Foreign exchange rules and the Rwandan-franc rule: a liberalised capital account under Regulation N° 42/2022, foreign-currency accounts, the 2025 ban on pricing and transacting in foreign currency inside Rwanda with fines of RWF 5 million to 100% of the amount, the businesses deemed authorised by Directive N° 4230/2025-00042, and how to apply to the BNR for permission

Open at the border, Rwandan francs at home

Rwanda's foreign exchange regime has two halves that point in opposite directions. For money crossing the border the regime is liberal: there is no approval for inward or outward direct investment, residents may borrow abroad, and banks pay imports, dividends, interest and fees abroad against documents. For money changing hands inside Rwanda the regime is strict: prices must be set, and payments made, in Rwandan francs unless the business falls within an exception or holds a permission from the National Bank of Rwanda (BNR). Since May 2025 the second half has been enforced with fines calculated on the value of the deal, and since September 2025 the exceptions have been set out in a directive. A foreign investor who understands the first half but not the second is the investor most likely to be fined.

The legal sources are Article 39(6) of Law N° 033/2026 of 24/07/2026 governing the National Bank of Rwanda (the Central Bank Law), Regulation N° 42/2022 of 13/04/2022 governing foreign exchange operations, published in the Official Gazette n° 16 bis of 18/04/2022 (the FX Regulation), Regulations N° 89/2025 of 23/05/2025 amending it, published in the Official Gazette n° Special of 30/05/2025 and in force on publication (the 2025 Amendments), and Directive N° 4230/2025-00042 [613] of 17/09/2025 governing persons authorized to transact in foreign currencies and the requirements for obtaining authorization (the Directive), which replaced Directive N° 0520/2023-00041 of 22/02/2023 and took effect on signature. The BNR makes these instruments under its power to organise and manage the foreign exchange market (Article 45 of the Central Bank Law). The FX Regulation and the Directive cite the repealed 2017 central bank law; the BNR continues to publish and apply them.

The Rwandan-franc rule

Article 39(6) of the Central Bank Law provides that any monetary obligation or transaction entered into in the Republic of Rwanda is presumed to be expressed and settled in the Rwandan franc, unless otherwise provided for by other laws. The 2017 law, as quoted in the BNR's public notice of 29 December 2023, also allowed obligations in another currency where lawfully agreed between the parties; that allowance is not in the 2026 text, and the Directive describes the Rwandan franc as the only legal tender. The FX Regulation builds on the presumption: Article 4 requires a person who is not a licensed intermediary to apply to the BNR for authorisation to transact in foreign currency according to the needs and type of its business, and requires foreign currency it receives to be credited to a foreign-currency account, sold to a licensed intermediary or used to settle external obligations through an authorised financial institution. Article 32 prohibits pricing goods and services in foreign currency except as the Regulation provides.

The consequence is that the currency clause of a contract between two Rwandan residents is no longer a matter of free choice. A lease, supply contract, service agreement or employment contract performed in Rwanda between residents should state its price in Rwandan francs unless one of the parties is permitted to transact in foreign currency. An indexation clause that fixes a franc price by reference to a dollar amount at the date of each invoice deserves care: the 2025 definition of pricing covers "any other activities intended to inform the client of the price in foreign currency", so a clause whose effect is to quote a dollar price may be treated as pricing in foreign currency.

A liberalised capital account

The FX Regulation states in Article 1 that it aims at the liberalisation of the capital account. Capital account operations are defined in Article 2(2°) to include direct investment, equity and portfolio investment, bank and credit transactions, payment of interest and amortisation, dividends and other income on investments, repatriation of the proceeds of sale of assets and other investment flows. Under Article 25, inward and outward transactions on direct investment are fully liberalised and portfolio investment between residents and non-residents is liberalised, but before repatriating a return on investment a licensed intermediary must request relevant supporting documents. Residents may freely contract foreign-currency loans from non-residents (Article 26), described in Offshore loans and external borrowing.

Current payments are equally open but documented. Importers may pay without limit for goods imported under a documentary credit, for goods already imported, and in advance against an import contract or other evidence that prepayment is required (Article 14), producing the customs bill of entry, final invoice and delivery note (Articles 15 to 17). Banks may transfer net salaries of expatriates after tax and social security contributions (Article 23), and dividends, directors' and managers' fees, foreign consultants' fees, royalties, interest, repair costs, card payments, reinsurance, airline reimbursements, advertising, hire and leasing costs, transport, memberships, communications and training costs and VAT refunds, on presentation of supporting documents indicating the source of the funds (Article 24). Personal transfers such as gifts, inheritances, emigrants' assets and refunds are allowed on documentary evidence (Article 28). Article 20 requires all payments to non-residents and all transfers to or from abroad by residents to be made through licensed intermediaries or the BNR, and under Article 33 the BNR may prohibit transfers abroad to meet Rwanda's international obligations. How these rules apply to dividends and exit proceeds is in Repatriating profits and capital.

Accounts, dealing and residence

Residents and non-residents may open and operate foreign-currency accounts with banks and deposit-taking microfinance institutions, which apply the anti-money-laundering know-your-customer rules (Article 10); the accounts may be freely debited and credited, with the reason for each withdrawal recorded for statistical purposes (Article 11). A non-resident account is an account held with a licensed bank or deposit-taking microfinance institution by a non-resident individual or legal entity (Article 2(15°)). Banks and other BNR-regulated institutions may open accounts abroad within the BNR's prudential limits on foreign currency held in overseas accounts, other residents may also open and operate overseas accounts, and licensed intermediaries report transfers to such accounts to the BNR for statistical purposes (Article 12). Holding a foreign-currency account does not by itself permit a business to price or collect domestic sales in foreign currency.

Only licensed intermediaries, meaning licensed banks, deposit-taking microfinance institutions, forex bureaus and other institutions the BNR authorises, may carry on foreign exchange business (Articles 2(1°) and 3). They set their buying and selling rates freely but must display them on a rate board and their website (Article 5) and issue slips for every purchase and sale (Article 8). Buying or selling foreign currency where at least one party is not a licensed intermediary is prohibited (Article 29), as are currency auctions and other practices that distort the market (Article 30), and intermediaries may not carry cash abroad without BNR approval (Article 35). Forex bureaus are licensed under Regulation N° 2310/2018-00015 of 27/12/2018. Travellers crossing the border with cash or bearer negotiable instruments worth RWF 10,000,000 or more must declare them under Article 5 of Regulation N° 001/FIC/2023 of 26/06/2023 (Anti-money-laundering and sanctions compliance).

Every person is presumed resident for foreign exchange purposes unless the Regulation provides otherwise (Article 9). Since the 2025 Amendments, an individual is resident if he or she has a residence or domicile in Rwanda or is a Rwandan representing Rwanda abroad, and a legal entity or legal arrangement is resident if it is incorporated or registered according to Rwandan laws, has effective management functions in Rwanda or is a Rwandan Government entity. The 2022 text also treated individuals resident or domiciled in another East African Community state as residents; that limb has gone. A non-resident is an individual, legal entity or legal arrangement operating in Rwanda that is not a resident. A Rwandan subsidiary of a foreign group is therefore a resident, and a branch registered with the Rwanda Development Board (RDB) would appear to be one too, as an entity registered according to Rwandan law.

Pricing and transacting in foreign currency since May 2025

The 2025 Amendments define pricing in foreign currency as fixing the monetary value a seller receives for goods or services in foreign currency, including displaying prices, informing the client of the price verbally or in writing, marketing or advertising the price, requesting a client to pay, invoicing, fixing the price in a contract, and any other activity intended to inform the client of the price in foreign currency. Transactions in foreign currency means receiving payment in foreign currency derived from pricing in foreign currency. New Article 20 bis provides that payment in foreign currency for goods or services exported or imported is permitted, so an exporter may invoice its foreign buyer in dollars and an importer may pay its foreign supplier in dollars through its bank.

New Article 34 makes it an administrative fault, without prejudice to criminal provisions or other laws, for a person not permitted by the BNR to price or transact in foreign currency, and sets fixed sanctions imposed by the BNR. The sanctions for transacting are expressed in Rwandan francs at the exchange rate of the day of the sanction (Article 34(2)). The same sanctions apply to licensed intermediaries and authorised dealers that price or transact in foreign currency with a resident (Article 34(4)), so a bank or a deemed dealer is not free to sell domestic goods or services to a Rwandan resident in dollars beyond what its own permission covers. A person who does not pay the sanction into the BNR's account within 15 days of notification is reported to the Credit Bureau and owes a further 1% of the sanction for each day of delay until payment (Article 34(5)), and the BNR works with other institutions to enforce the rules (Article 34(6)). New Article 37 bis obliges every person to report to the BNR information in his or her possession on unauthorised foreign exchange operations and protects whistle-blowers. Under Article 11 of the Directive, the Rwanda Inspectorate, Competition and Consumer Protection Authority (RICA), the Rwanda National Police and local authorities support the BNR in enforcement.

The BNR announced the sanctions in a public notice of 16 June 2025. That notice described hotels, casinos, travel and tourism agencies, duty-free shops and international schools dealing with non-residents as exempt; the Directive of 17 September 2025, which is the later and more formal instrument, uses a different list that does not mention hotels as such and is not limited to dealings with non-residents. This guide follows the Directive.

Businesses deemed authorised to transact in foreign currency

Article 4 of the Directive deems the following persons authorised to transact in foreign currency without applying: real estate companies holding an investment certificate approved by RDB to transact in foreign currency; tourism entities and travel agencies licensed by RDB; entities under the Kigali International Financial Centre (KIFC) regime recommended by Rwanda Finance Limited; the Kigali International Arbitration Centre (KIAC); mining operators trading in minerals; aviation and logistics service providers, air ticketing agencies and cross-border land and water transport operators; duty-free shops and casinos; international schools and universities; suppliers of goods and services to diplomatic missions and international organisations; expatriates authorised to work in Rwanda and persons serving entities that use foreign currency from abroad; suppliers to expatriates and to persons with foreign-sourced income; and any other person the BNR authorises. The KIFC regime is described in Kigali International Financial Centre.

A deemed or authorised dealer remains subject to conditions. It may not refuse payment in Rwandan francs or compel a customer to pay in foreign currency unless the parties have agreed, and a price shown in foreign currency must also be shown in Rwandan francs at the BNR's daily average exchange rate, without any surcharge for paying in francs (Articles 3(3) and 4(2) and (3) of the Directive). A hotel or lodge licensed by RDB as a tourism entity can therefore show room rates in dollars with the franc equivalent beside them, but must accept francs at the BNR rate from any guest who prefers them.

The Directive allowed persons with existing foreign-currency contracts outside the list six months from its publication to comply (Article 12). The Directive's publication in the Official Gazette has not been located, so the exact closing date is uncertain, but on any reading the period ended in the first half of 2026; contracts still priced in foreign currency between residents should now be converted to francs or covered by an authorisation.

Applying to the BNR for authorisation to transact in foreign currency

1. Check the deemed list firstIf the business falls within Article 4 of the Directive, no application is needed, but keep the RDB licence or certificate, the Rwanda Finance Limited recommendation or other evidence of the category on file.
2. Prepare the application letterExplain the business need for foreign currency, the expected foreign-currency inflows and outflows and the accounts held. An association may apply on behalf of its sector.
3. Attach the supporting documentsWhere applicable: registration documents, a current tax clearance certificate from the Rwanda Revenue Authority (RRA), the agreements that involve foreign currency, financial statements for the last two years and a recommendation from RDB.
4. File through e-correspondence.bnr.rwApplications go to the BNR's Non-Bank Financial Institutions Department through its electronic correspondence portal.
5. Acknowledgement and decisionThe BNR acknowledges within 5 working days and decides within 20 working days; it may extend once by up to 10 working days, after which the absence of a reply means approval.
6. Comply with the conditionsShow franc equivalents at the BNR daily average rate, accept francs, keep records for 10 years and stay within the scope of the authorisation.
7. If revocation is proposedThe dealer has 10 working days to respond to the BNR and may appeal to the Governor within 10 working days of a revocation decision.