Tinubu Welcomes October 7 Launch Of African Credit Rating Agency, Says Africa Wants Fair Ratings Not Favour

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has welcomed the African Union’s announcement that the African Credit Rating Agency (AfCRA) will officially launch on October 7.

Tinubu made this known in a statement he personally signed on Thursday, noting that the establishment of the agency was a step towards building African financial institutions capable of better understanding and assessing the continent’s economies and risks.

The President said he had previously advocated for the establishment of an African credit rating agency, including in an article published by the Financial Times in February and during the Africa CEO Forum in Kigali, Rwanda, in May.

“In February, I made the case in the Financial Times for an African credit rating agency. In May, at the Africa CEO Forum in Kigali, I spoke again about the need for Africa to build financial institutions that understand our economies and can assess our risks properly,” Tinubu said.

According to him, the launch of AfCRA represents another step towards achieving that objective.

Tinubu stressed that African countries were not seeking preferential treatment in credit ratings but wanted assessments that accurately reflected the strength and realities of their economies.

“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,” he said.

He added that the agency would need to earn the confidence of international investors through independence and rigorous assessment.

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

“I look forward to October 7,” the President added.