In September 2025, Africa will launch a credit rating agency—the African Credit Rating Agency (AfCRA). It’s a big move, as AfCRA is positioning itself to become the go-to credit assessor for countries and corporations across the continent.
But why does this even matter? Well, have you ever thought about how investors decide whether a corporation or a country is “credit-worthy” before giving them a loan? Imagine you’re sitting on a lot of free cash and you decide to loan some of it out for interest. Naturally, before handing over that money, you’d want to do your homework. You’d check the borrower’s background, review their credit, and weigh the risk.
In the corporate and sovereign world, due diligence works the same way. When a country wants to issue a bond or secure a loan from an international bank or monetary body, it gets assessed based on its debt profile, growth rate, and default history.
For decades, investors have relied on the ‘Big Three’ global credit rating agencies—S&P Global, Fitch, and Moody’s. This is why we celebrate when African countries get an upgrade. It signals lower credit risk and opens the door to more financing.
But there’s been growing criticism of these global rating agencies for missing local context. Many argue they lack on-the-ground insight into African economies and the effects of politics.
While the AfCRA will bring the needed local context to those sovereign assessments, it could also lead to a catch-22: if it issues ratings lower than the global agencies, African governments may be unhappy; if it issues higher ratings, investors may call it biased.
The real struggle is keeping the AfCRA independent and unbiased, ensuring that governments cannot interfere in the assessment process. For now, we have to wait and see what the rollout and reception looks like in the coming months.
The AfCRA will issue its first sovereign rating by early 2026.
