The Africa Credit Rating Agency (AfCRA) has been officially launched in Port Louis, Mauritius, with a presidential aide saying President Bola Tinubu played a role in pushing for the establishment of the continental institution.
The African Union launched AfCRA on Wednesday as an Africa-focused institution established to provide independent assessments of the creditworthiness of African governments, companies and other institutions.
The Special Assistant to the President on Social Media, Dada Olusegun, said the agency’s establishment followed years of advocacy for an African-owned credit rating institution.
“While the idea of having an African Credit Rating Agency was first proposed in 2017, recent advocacy and push by President President Tinubu has now made it a reality,” Olusegun said in a post on X on Thursday.
He added that President Tinubu had advocated for the initiative in a Financial Times article in February and reiterated his position at the Africa CEO Forum in Kigali in May.
The African Union said AfCRA was endorsed by its Assembly in 2018, with the African Peer Review Mechanism later tasked with supporting the process of turning the initiative into an operational institution.
The agency is expected to assess African sovereigns, sub-sovereigns, companies and institutions, using African data, expertise and economic realities. It is designed to complement rather than replace existing international credit rating agencies.
AU Commission Chairperson, Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, said AfCRA would help address gaps in the assessment of African economies and strengthen the continent’s financial architecture.
He stressed that the agency would not be established to guarantee favourable ratings for African countries, but would provide independent, evidence-based and technically rigorous assessments.
AfCRA is headquartered in Port Louis, Mauritius, which was selected for its financial services sector, regulatory framework and connectivity with African and international markets.