Africa Launches First Continental Credit Rating Agency

Photo by the African Union

PORT LOUIS, Mauritius — The Africa Credit Rating Agency (AfCRA) was formally launched in Mauritius on Wednesday as an African Union initiative developed through the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM).

AfCRA will provide ratings for sovereign governments, sub-sovereign entities, corporations and other public and private institutions across Africa. According to the African Union, the agency will incorporate African data, expertise and economic context into its assessments while applying internationally recognized credit-rating standards.

The agency is headquartered in Port Louis, Mauritius. The launch follows several years of work by the African Union to establish a continental credit rating institution. The AU Assembly endorsed the creation of an African credit rating agency in 2018, and African finance ministers later backed the initiative. The APRM subsequently led technical and institutional work toward its establishment.

According to the African Union, AfCRA is intended to expand access to credit ratings across African markets and provide additional credit information to investors and other market participants.

Currently, only 32 of the African Union's 55 member states have sovereign ratings from at least one of the three major international credit rating agencies — Moody's Ratings, S&P Global Ratings and Fitch Ratings — according to the AU. Twenty-three AU member states remain unrated by the three agencies.

Credit ratings provide assessments of the ability of governments, companies and other borrowers to meet their financial obligations. Investors and financial institutions use the ratings when evaluating credit risk, while sovereign ratings can affect governments' access to international debt markets and borrowing terms.

African governments and institutions have previously raised concerns about how African sovereign risk is assessed by international credit rating agencies, including questions surrounding the data, methodologies and assumptions used in some assessments.

The African Union has emphasized that AfCRA was not established to automatically provide African governments with more favorable ratings.

“AfCRA is therefore not about seeking favourable ratings,” the AU said in its statement on the launch.

Instead, the African Union says the agency is intended to provide independent credit assessments informed by African economic conditions and data.

African Union Commission Chairperson Mahmoud Ali Youssouf participated in the official launch alongside Mauritian officials, representatives of the APRM and financial-sector stakeholders.

APRM Chief Executive Officer Marie-Antoinette Rose Quatre said credibility and independence would be central to AfCRA's operations, with its ratings expected to be based on evidence, transparency and technical analysis.

The agency's structure is also intended to separate its rating decisions from direct government control. AfCRA is expected to generate revenue through its operations and shareholder capital.

Mauritius was selected to host the agency's headquarters because of its established financial sector and regulatory environment, according to the African Union. Plans also provide for regional subsidiaries as the agency develops operations across the continent.

AfCRA is being launched at a time when debt and borrowing costs remain significant issues for many African economies.

Africa's external debt-service payments reached approximately $163 billion in 2024, as governments faced debt repayments, refinancing requirements and higher global borrowing costs. The new agency will operate alongside existing international and domestic credit rating agencies rather than replace them.

Its planned coverage includes sovereign and sub-sovereign governments, corporations, financial institutions and other entities seeking credit assessments. AfCRA is also expected to provide ratings in African markets where coverage from the three largest international agencies is currently limited or absent.

The launch formally establishes AfCRA as the first African Union-backed continental credit rating agency and moves the initiative from its institutional development stage toward ratings operations. The agency is expected to begin issuing credit assessments as it develops its coverage of governments and institutions across African markets.