The African Union announced the launch of the African Credit Rating Agency on Wednesday, 7 October, in Port Louis, the capital of Mauritius, where it will be based. The launch followed around a decade of preparatory work on a project endorsed by African leaders in 2018.
The union said the new agency would complement global credit rating agencies by offering a perspective grounded in African data, expertise and conditions.
The launch comes amid criticism from African leaders, who accuse international rating agencies of unfairly assessing the risks of lending to African countries. The agencies reject the criticism and say they apply consistent methodologies worldwide.
