AfCRA Targets First Sovereign Ratings by March as It Engages 15 African Governments

The Africa Credit Rating Agency (AfCRA), launched last month to challenge the dominance of the world’s three biggest ratings firms, is in talks with 15 African sovereigns and aims to publish its first ratings by March 2027, its interim CEO has said.Staff from the Mauritius-based agency, established following an African Union initiative in 2018, will conduct research in countries including Togo, Kenya, Seychelles, Burundi and Mauritius, interim Chief Executive Officer Sifiso Falala told Reuters. “We will be in a position, by March, before the end of March, to have released results,” Falala said in an interview, adding that “cost of borrowing is really a huge burden to Africa.”

AfCRA, which was officially launched in Mauritius on October 7th, 2026, was established following an African Union initiative aimed at strengthening the continent’s financial architecture and addressing concerns about the assessment of African economies by international credit rating agencies. African leaders have long argued that S&P Global Ratings, Moody’s and Fitch overstate lending risks on the continent, with lower ratings typically raising borrowing costs by hundreds of millions of dollars.

The agency says it aims to offer an additional perspective on African creditworthiness through its ratings approach, drawing on regional data and expertise to provide investors with another assessment of African sovereign credit risk. AfCRA is privately owned, with governments barred from holding shares, a structure designed to preserve the agency’s independence from the governments it rates.

AfCRA plans to issue solicited sovereign ratings, under which governments pay for assessments and provide access to officials and financial data, with the agency also planning to rate African multilateral lenders, including the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), as well as private financial institutions. The agency will initially focus on sovereign ratings before extending its activities to multilateral financial institutions and private-sector companies, with the solicited model allowing for deeper engagement with government officials and access to financial information.

The engagement with 15 sovereign borrowers marks a major step towards the commencement of operations of the continent’s new credit rating institution, which seeks to provide additional assessments of African economies and broaden the information available to investors on sovereign credit risks. The next major test for AfCRA will be translating its engagements into completed rating mandates and delivering its first assessments within the March 2027 timeline.

African countries face a borrowing cost burden estimated at over $75 billion, driven in part by ratings that leaders argue overstate the continent’s lending risks, with AfCRA’s launch seen as a direct response to this challenge. The agency’s ability to deliver credible, independent and timely ratings will determine whether it can meaningfully shift the cost of capital for African sovereigns, which currently pay some of the highest borrowing costs in the world.

The agency’s success will also depend on investor acceptance, with global investors likely to scrutinise AfCRA’s methodology, track record and independence before relying on its ratings for investment decisions. For now, the agency is focused on completing its first round of sovereign assessments, with the March 2027 deadline providing a clear test of its operational readiness and credibility.

Africa Presents is a Pan-African digital magazine and monthly publication covering politics, business, economy, culture, tech, and the stories shaping Africa and its diaspora. Visit africapresents.com and follow @AfricaPresents for daily coverage and monthly themed magazine editions.