by AKANI CHAUKE
JOHANNESBURG – TIRED of being unfairly rated by the West, Africa’s 54 countries came together to announce their own independent credit rating agency, which is set to kickstart operations before the end of this year.
Dubbed the African Credit Rating Agency (AfCRA), which is fully supported by the African Union’s (AU’s) African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), the pan African rating agency will publish its first sovereign rating by late 2025 or early 2026.
According to the African Peer Review Mechanism Lead Expert, Misheck Mutize, the continent is to launch its first homegrown credit rating agency by the end of September this year.
Mutize highlighted that preparations leading to the official launch were ongoing smoothly saying the selection process to pick the best candidate for the AfCRA chief executive officer have since been concluded.
The African Union created this credit rating following years of unfair criticisms, biased rating and non-transparent evaluations of African countries by the dominant global rating agencies such as Moody’s Ratings, S&P Global Ratings and Fitch Ratings.
Various African governments, economists, politicians and independent observers sharply accused these foreign owned rating agencies of systematically underestimating African economies in a move aimed at increasing borrowing costs.
One such Western rating agency is Fitch following its suspicious move to downgrade the African Export–Import Bank (Afreximbank), a move that drew sharp criticisms from across the entire continent before labeling such outcomes as unsubstantiated, baseless and unfounded.
While being sponsored by the African Union, Mutize indicated that the AfCRA would operate independently to ensure all its works are professional, independent. impartial and credible.
Mutiz said the continent’s private-sector stakeholders shall oversee operations of the AfCRA Mauritius-based MCB Capital Markets chosen as the transaction adviser.
Many African countries have been calling for the continent to launch its own independent human rights watch groups, rating agencies, donor and humanitarian agencies following years of manipulation by Western nation sponsored organisations.
The continent is suspicious that such motives by Western sponsored agencies were aimed at keeping African countries as second class economies and citizens to the Western world.
