Tinubu speaks on Africa’s new credit rating agency

President Bola Tinubu has welcomed the planned launch of the African Credit Rating Agency (AfCRA), saying Africa needs financial institutions that better understand the continent’s economies and risks.

The African Union has announced that the agency will officially launch on 7 October in Port Louis, Mauritius.

President Tinubu said the development was another step towards building African financial institutions capable of providing more accurate assessments of the continent’s economies.

The president disclosed this in a post on his official X account on Thursday, recalling that he had advocated for an African credit rating agency in a February 2026 Financial Times article.

He said he also raised the issue at the Africa CEO Forum in Kigali, Rwanda, in May, where he called for Africa to develop financial institutions that understand its economic realities.

“Africa is not asking for favourable ratings. We are asking for fair ratings, grounded in our fundamentals and in the reforms our economies are actually carrying out,” he said.

Why the agency matters

Credit ratings influence how investors assess the risk of lending to countries and companies. They can also affect borrowing costs and the amount of capital available to governments and businesses.

African governments have repeatedly raised concerns about what they describe as an “Africa premium”, under which African countries may face higher borrowing costs because of how investors perceive the continent’s risks.

The three major global rating agencies, including Fitch, Moody’s and S&P Global Ratings, currently play a major role in assessing African sovereign and corporate borrowers.

President Tinubu, in an article published by Financial Times, argued that African economies were paying too much to borrow because international assessments did not always adequately capture their economic realities.

He cited a 2023 United Nations Development Programme estimate that shortcomings in credit ratings cost African countries about $75 billion annually through higher interest payments and foregone lending.

He also argued that commodity-dependent African economies could be particularly exposed to downgrades during global market downturns, even when their reserves, fiscal positions, and debt profiles remained manageable.

The proposed agency is therefore expected to provide an Africa-focused alternative by taking greater account of local economic conditions and reforms.

The African Union has said that AfCRA will operate alongside existing global rating agencies rather than replace them.

Tinubu seeks investor confidence

In his statement Thursday, the president said the establishment of an African rating agency should not be interpreted as a demand for preferential treatment.

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Rather, he said, the agency must provide assessments based on economic fundamentals and the reforms being implemented by African countries.

He pointed to Nigeria’s experience, arguing that improvements in economic data, fiscal transparency and reforms had contributed to recent upgrades by international rating agencies.

However, he acknowledged that the credibility of AfCRA would ultimately depend on the quality and independence of its assessments.

“AfCRA must now earn the confidence of global capital. That confidence will rest on its independence and the rigour of its work,” he noted.

The launch is scheduled for 7 October in Mauritius, with President Tinubu saying he looks forward to the development.