Rabobank Group

Since 2005, Rabobank has acquired a number of holdings in partner banks in developing countries. To date, most of these have been in Africa, including Tanzania, Zambia, Rwanda and Mozambique. One characteristic shared by these countries is the fact that they lack a well-developed financial infrastructure in rural areas.

In keeping with its cooperative roots and aspirations, Rabobank took the initiative to help partner banks in a number of developing countries. The aim was to work with partner banks in these countries to provide small agricultural and commercial companies and private individuals access to affordable credit facilities and other banking services which were either under-developed or completely unavailable at the time. Rabobank’s contribution was not solely financial, but the organisation especially aimed to offer input in the form of experience, know-how and expertise.

Rabo Development’s banks do not necessarily have a cooperative structure. However, they are banks that specifically focus on rural areas as their operating areas and they aspire to serve everyone, not just the ‘better’ market segments. 

Rabo Development’s aim is to assist in the long-term development of the banks, and short-term profitability is not a priority. The underlying idea is that the banks will eventually develop into full and strong institutions that – in the longer term – will give Rabobank a presence in countries that are gaining importance in the world economy, especially in agricultural terms.  

Film: 'Balanced Banking'

The film "Balanced Banking" shows examples of Rabo Development’s activities.
BBC presenter Seetha Hallet travels through Zambia and Paraguay. In Zambia she visits customers, government officials and the Zanaco Bank, of which Rabobank is a partner. In  Paraguay she also visits Banco Regional, in which Rabobank has a minority stake.
Through Rabo Development we are able to once again fulfil our original co-operative objective: to provide people with access to financial services. The film shows how vitally important this is for a country’s development. It also reveals how Rabo Development helps to achieve this objective by combining the founding principles of Rabobank from the nineteenth century with the modern technologies of the twenty-first century.