The African Union (AU) will launch the African Credit Rating Agency (AfCRA) on October 7 in Mauritius, in what it describes as a major step towards strengthening Africa’s financial sovereignty.
The AU announced the planned launch in a post on X on September 2, saying the agency would challenge what it described as skewed risk perceptions that have led African countries to pay higher risk premiums when accessing global capital.
The agency, headquartered in Mauritius, is expected to provide context-driven credit assessments for African sovereign and corporate entities.
“The African Credit Rating Agency (AfCRA), headquartered in Mauritius, is created to rewrite that narrative with context-driven credit opinions for sovereign and corporate entities,” the AU said.
Speaking in a video posted on Friday, Misheck Mutize, lead expert on credit ratings at the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) continental secretariat, said the decision followed a mandate from African finance ministers.
He said the ministers wanted to support countries whose credit ratings do not adequately reflect their economic growth, socio-economic development and political improvements.
Ejigayhu Tefera, a senior credit rating expert representing APRM and AfCRA, said several feasibility studies had been conducted before the decision to establish the agency.
“First, by looking at the market, is there a market for this African Rating Agency? The answer was yes,” she said.
McBride Nkhalamba, acting director of governance and specialised reporting at APRM, said consultations following the ministers’ mandate produced a four-prong policy framework.
The first component involves providing research and advisory services to governments, including research into issues frequently raised by existing credit rating agencies.
The second is an information exchange platform bringing governments and financial-sector institutions together to discuss ways of improving credit-rating processes across Africa.
Nkhalamba said the platform has since evolved into what is now known as the regulators forum.
The third component is technical support for countries before, during and after the credit-rating process.
He said African countries must also ensure that institutions such as central banks, finance ministries and securities exchanges have coherent and consistent data before engaging with rating agencies.
The fourth component eventually led to the establishment of AfCRA as an African-owned credit rating agency.
Nkhalamba stressed that the agency is not being created to compete with the three major global rating agencies — Moody’s, S&P Global Ratings and Fitch Ratings — but to offer an alternative assessment.
Rony Lam, CEO of MCB Capital Markets, similarly said AfCRA would complement rather than replace international rating agencies.
“The intention is really to provide an alternative view, to complement what the big three are saying,” he said.
‘AfCRA another step to build Africa’s financial institutions’
President Bola Tinubu has welcomed the planned launch, describing it as another step towards building stronger African financial institutions.
Nigeria endorsed the initiative in 2025, when Tinubu said an Africa-led credit rating agency could help reduce bias and provide more accurate assessments of African economies.
In a statement on Thursday, Tinubu recalled making the case for such an agency in the Financial Times in February and at the Africa CEO Forum in Kigali in May.
“In May, at the Africa CEO Forum in Kigali, I spoke again about the need for Africa to build financial institutions that understand our economies and can assess our risks properly,” he said.
“AfCRA is another step towards that goal.”
Tinubu said Africa was not seeking favourable credit ratings but fair assessments based on its economic fundamentals and ongoing reforms.
“AfCRA must now earn the confidence of global capital. That confidence will rest on its independence and the rigour of its work,” he said.
The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) had announced the creation of AfCRA on April 3 as part of efforts to address the high borrowing costs faced by African countries.
