President Bola Tinubu on Thursday welcomed the African Union’s announcement that the African Credit Rating Agency will officially launch on 7 October 2026.
The President described the launch as another step toward building financial institutions that understand African economies and can assess risks properly.
“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. AfCRA is another step towards that goal,” Tinubu said.
He rejected the notion that Africa is seeking favourable ratings. “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 added.
The President said AfCRA must now earn the confidence of global capital through independence and rigorous work.
“That confidence will rest on its independence and the rigour of its work. I look forward to October 7,” he stated.
The African Union has not yet released the full governance structure or initial list of raters for the agency. AfCRA is expected to begin operations in Addis Ababa, with a mandate to provide sovereign and corporate credit ratings tailored to African market conditions.
