The African Union-backed Africa Credit Rating Agency, launched in Mauritius last month, could widen investors' view of African borrowers but will only make a difference if markets trust its ratings, experts told the Daily Maverick.
The agency plans to rate governments, banks and companies alongside Moody's, S&P and Fitch, drawing on more local knowledge and data. Its backers hope that will counter broad assumptions about continental risk that, according to a UN Development Programme estimate, cost African countries billions of dollars in extra interest and lost lending.
The launch comes as debt-servicing costs climb. AU figures show external debt-service payments across the continent rose from $61bn in 2010 to $163bn in 2024, and an OECD report found many African governments paid higher bond yields than similar economies elsewhere.
Source: Daily Maverick