Russian barrage kills at least 24 across Ukraine on Putin's birthdayHouthi strikes on Saudi and Aden airports kill three foreigners in Saudi ArabiaTanker attacks in Hormuz hit weekly high as US and Iran dispute control of straitGlobal bond selloff resumes as US 30-year yield reaches highest since 2002IMF warns energy prices will stay high as IEA speeds oil stock releaseEritrean troops reported inside northern Ethiopia as ties collapseTanker burns off Sochi as Bulgaria ends search for sunken ship's crewKenya traces contacts after first Ebola death exposes screening gapsUS and WHO press Russia for details on suspected plague deathYemen displacement passes 200,000 as UN agencies warn of hungerThai flood toll climbs to at least 52 as new storms loomFrench bond yields rise again as central bank chief rules out ECB helpFrance suspends stun grenades at student protests as unrest spreads to BelgiumEU-China trade talks open after Beijing rejects voluntary hybrid curbsTurkey sends defensive support to Saudi Arabia while Syria denies joining Houthi fightSpaceX credit risk hits record after $40bn chip-financing reportEx-BND chief Hanning in custody as allies review shared intelligenceChrista Pike wakes and speaks after surviving Tennessee lethal injectionsIsrael marks three years since Hamas attack as strikes hit GazaMathematicians question vetting after OpenAI publishes hundreds of claimed resultsIndia's central bank raises rates for the first time since 2023EU ambassadors agree largest-ever expansion of Russia sanctions listShiroka-Pula takes office as Kosovo president while EU voices concern over court lawIraq devalues dinar as Hormuz disruption hits oil exportsHungary lifts veto as EU opens two negotiating clusters with Ukraine and MoldovaIsraeli forces raid West Bank towns and smash memorials as settlers attack homeLithuania to deploy army at Kaliningrad border as Denmark accuses Russia of sabotageUS forces on Okinawa put under curfew after Marine arrested over woman's killingFlávio Bolsonaro vows constitutional reform ahead of Brazil runoff as US Democrats question visa revocationShell expects record refining margins as Iran war reshapes fuel marketsAfD lawmaker elected Saxony-Anhalt parliament president, rattling Merz's coalitionChina opens pilot training base in LaosProbes widen after flydubai hijacking attemptEviction symbol Maricarmen dies as Spanish unions call general strikeParamount Skydance completes Warner Bros. Discovery takeoverGermany blocks Cosco takeover of Hamburg port logistics firmHackers used Chinese AI tool against South Korean banks; Qilin suspect held in GermanyAfrican Union launches continent's first credit rating agencyUK consulate in East Jerusalem prepares to closePorsche plans to cut 25% of workforce and shift to pricier carsNewsom condemns Trump's remark that Iran could 'take out' Los AngelesFinland orders Google to halt work at data centre sitesMyanmar's Min Aung Hlaing visits Malaysia amid concerns over Rohingya returnsIzmir mayor joins Erdoğan's partyFirst working nuclear clocks unveiled by Chinese and European teamsIndonesian wildfire haze makes Singapore's air the world's worstOman evacuates injured crew from attacked tanker in HormuzChatGPT for Teens judged an 'unacceptable risk' to childrenNATO military committee visits KyivLibya's eastern parliament removes speaker Saleh after 12 yearsJapan to cut hundreds of stocks from Topix in record revampRussian barrage kills at least 24 across Ukraine on Putin's birthdayHouthi strikes on Saudi and Aden airports kill three foreigners in Saudi ArabiaTanker attacks in Hormuz hit weekly high as US and Iran dispute control of straitGlobal bond selloff resumes as US 30-year yield reaches highest since 2002IMF warns energy prices will stay high as IEA speeds oil stock releaseEritrean troops reported inside northern Ethiopia as ties collapseTanker burns off Sochi as Bulgaria ends search for sunken ship's crewKenya traces contacts after first Ebola death exposes screening gapsUS and WHO press Russia for details on suspected plague deathYemen displacement passes 200,000 as UN agencies warn of hungerThai flood toll climbs to at least 52 as new storms loomFrench bond yields rise again as central bank chief rules out ECB helpFrance suspends stun grenades at student protests as unrest spreads to BelgiumEU-China trade talks open after Beijing rejects voluntary hybrid curbsTurkey sends defensive support to Saudi Arabia while Syria denies joining Houthi fightSpaceX credit risk hits record after $40bn chip-financing reportEx-BND chief Hanning in custody as allies review shared intelligenceChrista Pike wakes and speaks after surviving Tennessee lethal injectionsIsrael marks three years since Hamas attack as strikes hit GazaMathematicians question vetting after OpenAI publishes hundreds of claimed resultsIndia's central bank raises rates for the first time since 2023EU ambassadors agree largest-ever expansion of Russia sanctions listShiroka-Pula takes office as Kosovo president while EU voices concern over court lawIraq devalues dinar as Hormuz disruption hits oil exportsHungary lifts veto as EU opens two negotiating clusters with Ukraine and MoldovaIsraeli forces raid West Bank towns and smash memorials as settlers attack homeLithuania to deploy army at Kaliningrad border as Denmark accuses Russia of sabotageUS forces on Okinawa put under curfew after Marine arrested over woman's killingFlávio Bolsonaro vows constitutional reform ahead of Brazil runoff as US Democrats question visa revocationShell expects record refining margins as Iran war reshapes fuel marketsAfD lawmaker elected Saxony-Anhalt parliament president, rattling Merz's coalitionChina opens pilot training base in LaosProbes widen after flydubai hijacking attemptEviction symbol Maricarmen dies as Spanish unions call general strikeParamount Skydance completes Warner Bros. Discovery takeoverGermany blocks Cosco takeover of Hamburg port logistics firmHackers used Chinese AI tool against South Korean banks; Qilin suspect held in GermanyAfrican Union launches continent's first credit rating agencyUK consulate in East Jerusalem prepares to closePorsche plans to cut 25% of workforce and shift to pricier carsNewsom condemns Trump's remark that Iran could 'take out' Los AngelesFinland orders Google to halt work at data centre sitesMyanmar's Min Aung Hlaing visits Malaysia amid concerns over Rohingya returnsIzmir mayor joins Erdoğan's partyFirst working nuclear clocks unveiled by Chinese and European teamsIndonesian wildfire haze makes Singapore's air the world's worstOman evacuates injured crew from attacked tanker in HormuzChatGPT for Teens judged an 'unacceptable risk' to childrenNATO military committee visits KyivLibya's eastern parliament removes speaker Saleh after 12 yearsJapan to cut hundreds of stocks from Topix in record revamp
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African rating agency

Where things stand

African countries moved on Wednesday, 7 October, to launch AfCRA, the African Union's first credit rating agency. It is meant to counter the "Africa premium" that policymakers say Moody's, S&P Global and Fitch Ratings impose.

Many African governments argue that the three dominant Western rating agencies, Moody's, S&P Global and Fitch Ratings, rate the continent too harshly and raise its borrowing costs, a surcharge they call the "Africa premium". The African Union has pursued a home-grown alternative to give countries a different assessment of their creditworthiness.

Timeline in detail

Thursday, 8 October 2026Economy

African Union launches continent's first credit rating agency

African countries moved on Wednesday to launch AfCRA, the first credit rating agency of the African Union. It is meant to end the 'Africa premium' that policymakers say Moody's, S&P Global and Fitch Ratings have imposed.