Strategic Factors Influencing Banking Sector Competitiveness in Rwanda. A Case Study of Bank of Kigali, Rwanda

Several financial institutions in Rwanda have closed as a result of the current economic crisis, making it difficult to conduct this research. A country's economic well-being particularly that of Rwanda, hinges on the strength of its banking system. The purpose of this study is to investigate the strategic factors that contribute to the competitiveness of the banking industry in Rwanda. These factors include strategic product accessibility, strategic customer relationship marketing, strategic leadership, and strategic technology adoption. A cross-sectional survey design was used as the research methodology for this study. Bank of Kigali's current staff of 150 employees served as the sample population. Respondents were requested to fill out questionnaires and interview schedules, which provided the bulk of the study's data. These were the study's primary data collection points. Secondary sources, such as the National Bank of Rwanda's yearly reports, were also consulted for this study. Analysis of the collected data was carried out using SPSS. Thematic analysis was used to examine qualitative data, and the findings were presented in narrative format together with direct quotations from respondents. The study results reveals that It is evident that holding strategic products accessibility, strategic customer relationship marketing, strategic leadership and strategic technology adoption to a constant zero, banking sector competitiveness in Rwanda would be at 0.421. In Addition, any unit increase on strategic products accessibility would increase banking sector competitiveness in Rwanda by a factor of 0.224. Any unit increase in strategic customer relationship marketing would increase banking sector competitiveness in Rwanda by a factor of 0.222. Any unit increase in strategic leadership would increase banking sector competitiveness in Rwanda by a factor of 0.359. Lastly any unit in strategic technology adoption would increase in banking sector competitiveness in Rwanda by a factor of 0.304. Therefore, commercial banks are encouraged to consistently work to improve their strategic leadership, planning, creativity, technological proficiency, and human resource competence. This may be achieved by effective and proactive leadership, strategic planning, the use of cutting-edge technology, an innovative spirit, and strong adherence to employee training and development. To guarantee the commercial banks' long-term existence and stakeholder satisfaction, more study is needed on how the National Bank of Rwanda may improve its oversight and regulatory role. Keywords: Strategic Factors, Banking Sector, Competitiveness, Performance, strategic product accessibility, strategic customer relationship marketing, strategic leadership, and strategic technology adoption