By Shruti Menon Seeboo
The global financial landscape witnessed a seismic shift on Tuesday, 7th October 2025, as Mauritius was officially designated the primary jurisdiction to headquarter the Africa Credit Rating Agency (AfCRA). The announcement, made at the Primary Jurisdiction Announcement Ceremony in Ebene, was met with acclaim by senior African Union and Mauritian officials, who heralded the move as a monumental stride towards economic sovereignty, financial independence, and the realisation of the African Union’s Agenda 2063.
AfCRA, an initiative spearheaded by the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), is envisioned as an independent, private sector-led agency that will provide credit assessments rooted in African realities, challenging decades of perceived external bias in the rating of African nations and enterprises. The speeches delivered at the ceremony meticulously unpacked the historical significance, the economic necessity, and the strategic blueprint underpinning this continental project.
Hon. Dhananjay Ramful: Changing the Narrative and Asserting Economic Sovereignty
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade, Hon. Dhananjay Ramful, articulated the profound strategic vision behind the AfCRA project, framing its establishment as the realisation of a “long-held African aspiration.” The Minister spoke passionately about correcting the historical imbalance in how Africa is viewed and rated by external powers.
“For decades, Africa has been defined by others—our economies assessed through foreign lenses, our potential measured by external yardsticks, our future predicted by those who do not walk our soil or understand our resilience,” Minister Ramful stated, before delivering the announcement’s central mandate: “Today, we change that narrative. Today, Africa speaks for itself.”
He emphasised that AfCRA is far more than a financial institution; it is a declaration of confidence in the continent’s expertise and determination. The Minister underscored the project’s grounding in “Pan-Africanism in practice” and the philosophy of “African solutions to African challenges.”
Crucially, Minister Ramful highlighted AfCRA’s direct contribution to the African Union’s blueprint, Agenda 2063, particularly focusing on four key aspirations: A Prosperous Africa, An Integrated Continent, A Strong Cultural Identity, and Africa as a Strong Global Player. He stressed that the agency will provide credible ratings that “unlock capital at fair terms,” thereby strengthening confidence in “intra-African commerce” and asserting Africa’s right to be assessed “fairly, comprehensively, and with deep contextual understanding.”
The Minister concluded by pledging the Mauritian Government’s “full support to ensure AfCRA’s success,” affirming that Mauritius is “honoured to serve as the home of this vital institution.”
Mr. Mahen Kundasamy: Validating the IFC and Quantifying the Cost of Subjective Assessments
Mr. Mahen Kundasamy, Chief Executive Officer of the Economic Development Board (EDB), provided the economic justification for AfCRA’s necessity and celebrated its role in validating the credibility of the Mauritius International Financial Centre (IFC). Mr. Kundasamy noted the enormous, quantifiable damage caused by perceived bias in the existing global rating system.
He pointed to a compelling United Nations report which revealed that “African nations have lost a whopping $75 BILLION due to subjective risk assessments by global credit rating agencies.” This massive loss, he explained, stems from exaggerated risk premiums and distorted ratings. He reinforced this critique by quoting Kenyan President William Ruto, who accused these rating companies of relying on “outdated and flawed assumptions” that result in “distorted ratings” and “exaggerated risks.”
The CEO praised the collaborative national effort behind the successful bid, which involved representatives “at all levels from the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Financial Services and Economic Planning, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs… the Economic Development Board and the private sector.” He described it as a “remarkable team work” that successfully submitted a formidable Expression of Interest.
For the EDB, the designation of Mauritius as the host country constitutes a major milestone that “validates the credibility of our IFC, demonstrating our adherence to set-forth African developmental priorities.” Looking ahead, he concluded that AfCRA will not just reshape global perceptions about Africa; it will be a “catalyst that will unlock billions of investments in Africa.” He then offered the reflection: “Someone will be sitting in the shade tomorrow because someone planted a tree today.”
H.E. Amb. Marie-Antoinette Rose-Quatre: Moving from Aspiration to Action and Reshaping the Global Financial Order
H.E. Amb. Marie-Antoinette Rose-Quatre, Chief Executive Officer of the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), delivered a comprehensive statement that provided crucial context for the agency’s creation, focusing on the procedural rigour of the selection process and the imperative to transform continental aspiration into an operational institution. She stressed that the ceremony was “more than a ceremonial milestone. It is a defining moment in Africa’s financial history, a moment when we, as a continent, move decisively from aspiration to action, from concept to institution, and from critique of the global financial order to active participation in reshaping it.”
The Ambassador detailed the deep inequities of the current global financial order, which she asserted was “not designed with the realities and aspirations of emerging and developing economies in mind.” She noted that, over the past decade, African sovereigns were “repeatedly subjected to rating downgrades, many of them unwarranted or based on incomplete contextual analysis,” often driven by external shocks. She cited studies showing African countries pay a “perception premium” that translates to “on average 100 to 260 basis points more on sovereign bonds than peers with similar fundamentals elsewhere.” The call for a home-grown, Africa-centred institution was therefore not just justified, but “imperative.”
Ambassador Rose-Quatre clarified that AfCRA is a continental project, envisioned as a “complement, not a competitor,” grounded in the principle that credibility and fairness in credit assessments are prerequisites for sustainable development. She affirmed that the selection of Mauritius was the product of a “comprehensive and competitive bidding process, administered through an independent transaction adviser,” successfully meeting stringent criteria regarding regulatory frameworks, political and economic stability, the maturity of financial markets, and the Mauritius’s commitment to Africa’s financial transformation agenda. She concluded with a clear mandate for all stakeholders: “Today is not just about a new agency. It is about a new narrative, one in which Africa is not a passive recipient of credit worthiness but an active producer of them.”
Dr the Hon Mrs Jyoti Jeetun: The Strategic Instrument of Empowerment and Deepening Capital Markets
Dr the Hon Mrs Jyoti Jeetun, Minister of Financial Services and Economic Planning, provided a granular view of the practical benefits AfCRA will deliver, particularly for policymakers and domestic markets. She defined the new agency as a “strategic instrument of empowerment” and “Africa’s answer to decades of asymmetry in global financial assessments.”
The Minister directly addressed the fundamental flaws of using uniform methodologies that fail to acknowledge Africa’s diversity: “For too long, our nations have been rated through lenses that may not reflect our ground realities, our local expertise, the socio economic, political and cultural dynamics of African countries. We cannot use one-size-fits-all models.”
Dr Jeetun detailed the multi-faceted benefits AfCRA will bring to African nations and enterprises:
- Fairer Representation of Creditworthiness: As a regional agency, it may be seen as being “more objective and less influenced by geopolitical interests or market sentiment from the Global North.”
- Lower Borrowing Costs: More accurate, context-aware ratings will reduce the ‘Africa Premium’. This will allow governments to finance development priorities such as health, education, and infrastructure “on more favourable terms.”
- Deepening Domestic Capital Markets: By rating local currency debt, the agency will empower local financial institutions, and crucially, “a regional credit rating agency will help assess SMEs and give them better and cheaper access to funds.”
- Financial Sovereignty and Stability: AfCRA will enable African countries to plan long-term, free from the “unpredictability of external rating downgrades.”
- Capacity Building: The agency will cultivate a new generation of local talent, including “credit analysts, economists, and financial researchers,” fostering expertise in finance and risk assessment across the continent.
The Minister confirmed the designation is a continental milestone and an affirmation of Mauritius’s robust legal and institutional frameworks. “Hosting AfCRA will elevate our International Financial Centre, attract talent, deepen our capital markets, and position Mauritius as a gateway for African financial innovation,” she proudly stated. The project is seen as a key contribution to “A future where our economies are rated fairly, our reforms are recognised, and our development is financed on our terms.”
Dr. Misheck Mutize: Exposing Pro-Cyclicality and Advocating for African Institutional Trust
Dr. Misheck Mutize, Lead Expert on Credit Rating Agencies, provided compelling technical evidence on the limitations of external assessments, underscoring the necessity for AfCRA to be locally anchored. He used recent, high-profile cases from the continent to illustrate what analysts refer to as the “pro-cyclicality of ratings,” where market reaction is immediate and potentially disproportionate to the facts.
Dr. Mutize highlighted an example from Kenya, where an analyst’s speculative commentary about the government’s plan to buy back a bond led to immediate market impact. He argued that external ratings are often based on “expectation and potential” rather than confirmed data. Referring to the quick reversal of a pessimistic rating observation, he noted: “This dynamic will show you that the people who are behind the ratings may not be knowing a lot of things, maybe we might be knowing more than they know, but these ratings are driven mostly from a very pessimistic point.”
He also addressed the acknowledged deficiency of physical presence, citing an admission from the head of S&P that they need to create more presence in Africa. Dr. Mutize pointed out the irony of global agencies acquiring local African agencies, asking: “If these big three were very perfect in their observations, why would they be acquiring African agencies?” He concluded that this validates the merit in the observations of African agencies, who have a necessary understanding of local politics and realities, what he called “politics intelligence.”
Finally, Dr. Mutize emphasised that the greatest remaining task is convincing Africa’s own institutions to utilise AfCRA, noting the trend where African capital leaves the continent and returns at a higher cost. He stressed that “there is a lot of education that we need to do to demand the impressions that the big three or institutions outside Africa have a superior logic,” but cautioned that AfCRA will not provide “favourable ratings.” Its value lies in allowing capital to flow within Africa, eliminating foreign exchange risk, and cementing the fact that “the Africa rating agency is here to stay, and it has already changed a lot of financial architecture.”
The Primary Jurisdiction Announcement Ceremony of the Africa Credit Rating Agency was not merely a procedural event; it was a continental statement of intent. The powerful speeches delivered by Minister Ramful, Mr. Kundasamy, Ambassador Rose-Quatre, Minister Jeetun, and Dr. Mutize established a clear, unified vision: the establishment of AfCRA in Mauritius is a strategic pillar that underpins Africa’s financial renaissance. By asserting the right to self-assess, the continent is actively building the economic conditions necessary for inclusive growth, capital market depth, and ultimately, the complete realisation of the prosperous, integrated Africa envisioned in Agenda 2063. The journey of AfCRA, rooted now in the robust legal and financial infrastructure of Mauritius, has officially begun.
