Several African countries could secure investment grade credit ratings by next year as economic reforms begin to bear fruit and growth gathers pace across the continent, according to African Development Bank president Sidi Ould Tah.
Speaking in an interview with Bloomberg, Ould Tah said confidence is growing that African economies will continue to strengthen, leading to improved assessments from global ratings agencies.
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“We’re quite confident that the continent will continue to grow very strong and that African countries will be better rated in the coming years,” Ould Tah said. “We’ve seen Morocco receive investment grade during the last few months and we expect other countries by next year to get toward that.”
A number of African sovereigns have already received favourable ratings actions in recent months. Morocco was upgraded to investment grade by S&P Global Ratings last year, while South Africa received a one notch upgrade in November. Nigeria’s credit rating was also raised in May. Ghana, Zambia, Ivory Coast and Kenya have similarly benefited from positive ratings actions linked to fiscal consolidation, debt management and broader economic reforms.
