The African Credit Rating Agency, AfCRA, has been officially launched in Mauritius, with a presidential aide saying President Bola Tinubu played a role in pushing for the establishment of the continental institution.
The agency was launched by the African Union in Port Louis, Mauritius, on Wednesday, October 7, as an Africa-focused institution designed to provide independent assessments of the creditworthiness of African governments, businesses and other institutions.
The Special Assistant to the President on Social Media, Dada Olusegun, said Tinubu’s advocacy helped move the initiative towards becoming an operational institution.
Olusegun said the idea of an African credit rating agency was first proposed years ago, but claimed that Tinubu’s recent advocacy and push contributed to its eventual launch.
He also shared a video of the President advocating for an African credit rating agency during a meeting in Kigali.
Tinubu had previously made the case for an Africa-focused rating institution, according to the presidential aide, who said the President raised the issue in a Financial Times article and again at the Africa CEO Forum in Kigali.
The African Union, however, said AfCRA has been in development for several years, with its Assembly endorsing the creation of the agency in 2018.
The African Peer Review Mechanism was subsequently tasked with supporting efforts to turn the initiative into an operational institution. The AU said institutional frameworks, governance structures and methodologies were developed during 2024 and 2025 before the agency’s October 2026 launch.
AfCRA is intended to complement existing international credit rating agencies rather than replace them. It will provide assessments based on African data, expertise and economic realities.
The agency is expected to assess African sovereigns, sub-sovereigns, companies and other institutions.
The AU says the agency will provide an additional independent credit opinion, help close information gaps and support the development of local-currency and regional capital markets.
AfCRA is also expected to contribute to strengthening Africa’s financial architecture and improving access to capital for African economies and businesses.
At its launch, AU Commission Chairperson Mahmoud Ali Youssouf stressed that the agency would not exist to guarantee favourable ratings for African countries.
Instead, he said its assessments would need to remain independent, evidence-based and technically rigorous for the institution to establish credibility.
The African Union selected Mauritius as the headquarters of AfCRA, citing the country’s financial services sector, regulatory environment and connectivity with African and international markets.
The launch in Port Louis marks the culmination of years of efforts to establish an African institution capable of providing an additional perspective on the creditworthiness of economies across the continent.
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The move comes amid long-running concerns among some African policymakers that international rating methodologies do not adequately reflect the continent’s economic realities.
Reuters reported that AfCRA is expected to offer an alternative perspective to the dominant global rating agencies while helping address gaps in coverage across African economies.
Olusegun also linked the establishment of AfCRA to what he described as broader efforts during Tinubu’s presidency to promote African-led institutions.
He cited the African Energy Bank, which is expected to be headquartered in Abuja, as another example of an institution intended to strengthen Africa’s economic and financial capacity.
The launch of AfCRA gives African governments, companies and investors another institution through which credit risks can be assessed, although its long-term influence will depend on the credibility and independence of its ratings.
