African Union to launch African credit rating agency in October–adviser

The African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) – an African Union-backed initiative – will launch a continent-wide credit ratings agency in October, a senior adviser at the AU said on Wednesday, as it seeks ‌to tackle high borrowing costs.

Paul Sikazwe, technical adviser on debt to the African Union Commission, said the ratings agency created for Africa will be launched in Mauritius on October 5.

“This is a sign of progress in our ambition to provide momentum for the reform of the international financial architecture,” said Sikazwe, speaking during a conference on debt and development in the Kenyan capital hosted by campaign group AfroDad.

The APRM has been working for years on the launch of an agency that assesses the creditworthiness of African sovereigns as governments seek an alternative to ratings from the dominant global ratings firms such as Fitch, Moody’s and S&P Global.

African leaders have long said the “big three” western ratings agencies do not ‌fairly assess the risk of lending to African countries. They have also accused them of being quick to downgrade African economies during crises like conflicts and pandemics.

The agencies have rejected this, saying their ratings follow the same formula across the world.

Debt issues in Africa have risen to the fore in recent years after heavy borrowing, economic mismanagement and external shocks pushed countries including Zambia, Ghana and Ethiopia into sovereign defaults in recent years.

The AU is also forging ahead with a push to take common action on debt by its 54-member states, Sikazwe said, including the inauguration of an African Monetary Institute in Abuja in late October, which is designed to serve as a precursor to a regional central bank. Reuters