• The African Credit Rating Agency (AfCRA) will begin operations by September 2025 to offer alternative sovereign credit assessments.
• AfCRA plans to publish its first sovereign rating by late 2025 or early 2026 and appoint a CEO in Q3.
• The agency was created in response to criticism of the Big Three, aiming to provide fairer, Africa-based credit evaluations.

African Credit Rating Agency

What is happening? The African Credit Rating Agency (AfCRA) is set to provide alternative assessments of repayment risks. According to Bloomberg, it plans to start operations by the end of September 2025. 

What is next? The agency intends to publish its first sovereign rating report by the end of year of early 2026. In addition, it aims to appoint a chief executive officer in the third quarter from its shortlisted candidates. 

Big Three

Why does this matter? This is monumental as it is in an effort to rival the big three rating companies, Fitch Ratings, Moody’s Ratings and S&P Global Ratings. In fact, the initiative came from African governments repeatedly accusing the big three of bias and lack of transparency.

Thus, AfCRA aims to address this issue by establishing this continent initiative. However, it does face the challenge of convincing investors of its own assessments.

The African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) questioned Fitch’s downgrading of the African Export-Import Bank. In its criticism it cites that the rating reflects a misunderstanding of the governance architecture of African financial institutions. However, Fitch asserts that its assessment takes into accordance with globally consistent and publicly available rating criteria.

How will it work? Misheck Mutize, lead expert on credit-rating companies at the APRM discloses that AfCRA will not count states among its owners. Instead shareholding will mainly be African private sector driven entities.

The agency will focus on local currency debt rating in order to support the development of domestic capital markets. Furthermore, this also aims to support reducing foreign currency risk on the continent.