Rwanda Statutory late-payment interest
Rwanda Statutory late-payment interest: no single figure applies. The reason is set out below, cited to the governing instrument. Last checked against the official source on 10 Aug 2026.
Rwanda's contract law entitles a creditor to interest on an unpaid money obligation from the date performance fell due, but fixes no rate: no statute, ministerial order or central-bank instrument sets a legal interest rate.
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| Current value | structured — see the API |
|---|---|
| In force from | — |
| Official source | Law n° 45/2011 of 25/11/2011 governing contracts, art. 144 'Granting interests in lieu of damages' / 'Octroi d'intérêts à la place de dommages-intérêts': 'Si la violation du contrat consiste dans le non paiement d'une somme d'argent ou la non-exécution d'une obligation ayant une valeur monétaire déterminée ou déterminable, les intérêts sont calculés à partir de la date à laquelle l'exécution était due, déduction faite de tous les montants auxquels la partie défaillante a droit' — the article fixes the starting date but prescribes no rate |
| Last verified | 2026-08-10 |
| Verification | primary — No verification limitation recorded — read from the official source cited. |
| Provenance | source fingerprint |
What this value means
REFUSAL — Rwanda gives the creditor the RIGHT to interest but never states the RATE. Article 144 of the contracts law settles only two things: that non-payment of a sum of money (or of an obligation with a determined or determinable monetary value) is compensated by interest rather than general damages, and that interest runs from the date performance was due, net of any amounts the defaulting party is owed. There is no percentage in the law, no ministerial order fixing one, and no indexation to the National Bank of Rwanda policy rate. In practice the rate comes from the contract, or from the court's assessment where the contract is silent. Related limits that DO bind: damages must be established with certainty and cannot exceed the loss proved (art. 142); a contractual damages clause is enforceable only at a reasonable amount measured against actual or anticipated loss, and a clause that operates as a penalty is not enforced (art. 146); punitive damages are unavailable for breach of contract unless the breach is itself an offence (art. 145); and damages for moral loss are excluded save for bodily harm cases (art. 143). No civil/commercial split exists. Do not import a neighbour's figure: the East African judgment-debt defaults (Uganda 6%, Tanzania 7%) have no application in Rwanda.
Get it programmatically
curl https://afriref.dev/v1/rw/statutory-interest
# $0.005 per call — x402 on Base (USDC). No key, no signup.
# History: curl https://afriref.dev/v1/rw/statutory-interest/history?from=2020-01-01
# Provenance: curl https://afriref.dev/provenance/rw/statutory-interestOther Rwanda series: National Bank of Rwanda central bank rate · VAT standard rate · VAT registration threshold · Statutory minimum wage (none in force) · Public holidays · CPI inflation (year-on-year) · Corporate income tax rate · Withholding tax rates · Personal income tax brackets · Statutory social-insurance contributions
The same figure elsewhere: Senegal · South Africa · Tanzania · Togo · Tunisia · all 34