{"id":41601,"date":"2026-10-08T09:22:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-08T05:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gbc1.net\/?p=41601"},"modified":"2026-10-08T22:08:36","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T18:08:36","slug":"african-union-officially-launches-the-african-credit-rating-agency-in-mauritius","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gbc1.net\/index.php\/2026\/10\/08\/african-union-officially-launches-the-african-credit-rating-agency-in-mauritius\/","title":{"rendered":"African Union Officially Launches the African Credit Rating Agency in Mauritius"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On 7 October 2026, the African Union officially launched the Africa Credit Rating Agency (#AfCRA<\/a>) in Mauritius. The establishment of AfCRA represents the culmination of nearly a decade of discussions and followed the 2nd Annual Conference on Credit Ratings from 5 to 6 October 2026. The event was jointly organized by the African Union African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) and Mauritius’ Ministry of Financial Services with the support of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) at the InterContinental Resort Hotel in Balaclava, Mauritius.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

African Union Commission Chair Mahmoud Youssouf flew in specially for the event. The Mauritian government was represented by acting President and Vice-President Robert Hungley, the Minister of Financial Services Jyoti Jeetun,and the Minister of Foreign Affairs Dhanandjay Ramful. Burundi’s PM Nestor Ntahontuye, representing the AU Chair, Ugandan Minister of State for Finance Amos Lugoloobi, representing the Chair of the APRM Forum of Heads of State. The UN was represented by its Assistant SG Ahunna Eziakonwa also attended the launch ceremony and the UNECA Deputy Executive Secretary Hanan Morsy. African financing institutions such as Afreximbank, AfDB, AFC and the Mauritius Commercial Bank (MCB) all played a vital role in the setting up of AfCRA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The interim CEO of AfCRA Sofiso Salala made a presentation of the AfCRA website (www.AfricaCreditRating.com<\/a>) that already has sovereign ratings for a number of African countries. The methodologies can be summarized by the AfCRA Wheel that takes macroeconomic parameters and other signals to come up with a credit score.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Family Photo for 2nd Annual Conference on Credit Ratings 2026<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n
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“Over the past few decades, Mauritius has been able to build itself up as a reputable International Financial Center that is compliant with international standards set by the OECD or ESSAMLG. The choice of Mauritius to host the Africa Credit Rating Agency is another vote of confidence in the Mauritius jurisfiction. According to Mauritius’s long-term development roadmap Vision 2050, financial services would contribute nearly one-third of the GDP by 2050. “<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The core objectives of the AfCRA are to inject an African perspective on the methodology of ratings that is rooted in local realities. The AfCRA will handle sovereign and sub-sovereign entities such as companies. The rating must nevertheless be rigorous, fair and credible to be of value to investors looking at Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) is proud to spearhead the AfCRA as part of promoting good governance in Africa. The APRM contributed to generating evidence on limitations and biases of current evaluation systems and to lay down its technical, operational and instutitional foundation.”<\/p>\nAU APRM CEO Marie-Antoinette Quatre<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n

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AUC Chair Youssouf Meets with Mauritian Acting President Hungley<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Another objective is to extend coverage to the whole of Africa. Currently, the Big Three — Fitch, Moody’s and S&P — only produce sovereign ratings for 32 countries in the African Union, leaving out 23 countries. The need for Africa’s own rating agency is becoming acutely felt as debt service by African countries has skyrocketed from USD 61 billion in 2010 to USD 163 billion in 2024, with no sign of slowing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the landmark study conducted by AfriCatalyst for the benefit of the UNDP in 2023, the current rating system costs Africa USD 75 billion annually in inflated borrowing costs and foregone funding opportunities. For instance, a better rating that leads to a drop of 50 basis points in the interest rate could result in a saving of up to USD 5 billion in repayments annually. Indeed, improved sovereign ratings would greatly contribute in mobilizing more capital at a lower cost to catalyze the development of the continent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As such, the advent of AfCRA is a milestone in the reshaping of the Global Financial Architecture (#GFA<\/a>) and is aligned with the AU’s #Agenda2063<\/a>. On the occasion, AUC Chair Youssouf fittingly reminded that Agenda 2063 was largely inspired by the Mauritian Miracle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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