Rwanda cooperative law: the 31 March AGM and dividend deadline
Rwandan cooperatives that make a profit must distribute net surplus by 31 March each year — missing it triggers dissolution of the Board of Directors, not a fine.
The deadline
Rwanda's cooperative law requires a cooperative that makes a profit to distribute its net surplus no later than 31 March each year — at least 70% of the net surplus goes to members as dividend, with the remainder split between the cooperative's general reserve and other General-Assembly-approved uses.
This is a structural, recurring feature of Rwanda's annual cooperative accounting cycle — not a one-time event, and not something that changes year to year on its own.
What happens if the deadline is missed
A cooperative that makes a profit and passes 31 March without distributing dividends as required commits a fault under the law. The stated consequence is dissolution of the cooperative's Board of Directors — not a monetary fine, which is the sanction more often associated with other compliance lapses.
The current law
Rwanda's cooperative law was replaced in 2024 — the current governing law repealed the prior 2021 law. Older references citing the earlier law number should be treated as superseded; the current instrument is what sets the 31 March deadline and the board-dissolution consequence above.
A separate, related track: tontines (ikimina)
Rwanda separately regulates informal tontines (ikimina) — savings groups distinct from SACCOs. Tontine registration goes through the local Sector administration, not RCA or BNR, and carries a much lighter compliance bar: a minimum of 5 members, free registration, and basic record-keeping. This is a different regulatory track entirely from SACCO regulation, useful context for how Rwanda is formalizing informal saving in parallel with the SACCO consolidation described elsewhere in this cluster, but not a SACCO compliance requirement itself.