The African Union (AU) will launch a continent-wide credit rating agency in Mauritius on October 5, a senior AU adviser said on Wednesday.

The African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), an AU-backed initiative, is preparing to launch the African Credit Rating Agency (AfCRA) as governments across the continent seek to address high borrowing costs. It was announced by Paul Sikazwe, the technical adviser on debt to the AU Commission, at a debt and development conference in Nairobi hosted by campaign group AfroDad.

“This is a sign of progress in our ambition to provide momentum for the reform of the international financial architecture,” Sikazwe said, as quoted by Reuters. 

Misheck Mutize, the APRM’s lead expert on credit rating agencies, said earlier this month that the agency should improve the quality and diversity of information available to investors. He said its role will be to strengthen the credibility of credit opinions rather than simply provide higher ratings.

The launch comes as several African countries remain under pressure from high debt burdens. Zambia defaulted on its sovereign Eurobonds in 2020, Ghana suspended payments on much of its external debt in 2022, and Ethiopia defaulted on a Eurobond in 2023. All three countries have since pursued debt restructuring with their creditors.

African governments have for years criticized major international rating agencies such as Fitch, Moody’s, and S&P. South African Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana raised similar concerns in 2025, saying countries with comparable fiscal indicators can receive different treatment. 

“There is already a bias against the African continent by multinational institutions, by the investing community, by rating agencies,” he said. Ghana and Zambia have also criticized global rating agencies, saying downgrades scare off investors and worsen their access to credit. 

Plans for AfCRA were already well-advanced last year. The APRM said the agency will initially focus on local-currency ratings and will be backed mainly by African private-sector investors, according to reports at the time. Mutize also rejected suggestions that its purpose is “to give favorable ratings to Africa.”