Tinubu welcomes AU’s launch of African Credit Rating Agency, says continent needs “fair ratings”

By Egena Sunday Ode

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has welcomed the African Union’s announcement that the African Credit Rating Agency, AfCRA, will officially launch on October 7, calling it another step toward financial institutions that understand and properly assess African economies.

In a statement posted on X on Thursday, Tinubu said Africa is not seeking favourable ratings, but ratings grounded in fundamentals and in the reforms governments are carrying out.

“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,” the President said.

Tinubu noted that he first made the case for an African-owned rating agency in the Financial Times in February, and repeated it in May at the Africa CEO Forum in Kigali.

He said AfCRA will now have to earn the trust of global capital.

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

The AU has positioned AfCRA as a pan-African institution designed to provide credit assessments that reflect Africa’s growth trajectory, debt management, and structural reforms, rather than relying solely on global agencies.

Tinubu said he looks forward to the October 7 launch.

The new agency is expected to begin operations later this year, with a mandate to rate sovereigns, sub-sovereigns, and corporate issuers across the continent.