Standard & Poor's assigns Afreximbank an investment-grade credit rating

Written by Ziad Abdel Fattah:

The agency granted“Standard & Poor's”S&P Global Ratings has assigned the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) a long-term credit rating of “BBB+” and a short-term credit rating of “A-2”, with a stable outlook, reinforcing the bank’s strong financial position and its pivotal role in driving trade, manufacturing and economic development in Africa and the global African community.

The growing strategic importance of the bank

According to Standard & Poor's, this rating reflects the bank's growing strategic importance, the strength of its institutional risk profile, and its expanding role as a resilient, cyclical institution that supports African economies during periods of global and regional uncertainty.

The rating agency highlighted the bank's strong policies, robust shareholder support, and proven track record in fulfilling its mandate. It also emphasized the bank's crucial role in promoting intra-African trade, supporting the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), and developing transformative platforms and solutions that foster regional integration and economic resilience.

The rating also reflects the bank's sustained growth and increasing capital. The agency noted that the bank's total assets rose between 2015 and 2025 from US$7.1 billion to US$42.3 billion, supported by an increase in shareholders' equity from US$1.3 billion to US$8.4 billion.

Commenting on the rating, Dr. George Elumbe, President and Chairman of Afreximbank, said: “This rating is a strong affirmation of Afreximbank’s financial strength, stability, and international credibility, and a clear recognition of its strategic importance and influence in Africa and the global market. It reflects the bank’s solid capital base, strong liquidity, high-quality assets, and, most importantly, the unwavering confidence that African countries and authorities place in this institution.”.

The events of recent years, particularly the last two, underscore a crucial lesson: just as Africa was not granted independence without struggle, neither will the continent's economic transformation be handed to it. Rather, it requires conscious, bold, courageous, and decisive action from the continent itself, in collaboration with its diaspora.

In response to major external shocks

The agency also highlighted the bank’s role in responding to major external shocks affecting African economies, including its support during the global financial crisis, the decline in commodity prices, the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and other periods of heightened global uncertainty. In this context, the bank recently announced a $10 billion Gulf Crisis Response Program to protect African and Caribbean economies from the shocks of the Middle East conflict.

The Bank continued to strengthen the systems necessary to support African trade and investment, including the African Payments and Settlement System, the African Trade Gateway, the African Continental Free Trade Agreement Adaptation Fund, as well as trade finance facilities, project finance, institutional support, and advisory services.

The stable outlook reflects Standard & Poor's assessment of Afreximbank's enhanced role as a countercyclical lender in Africa, continued shareholder support, and successive capital increases.

Afreximbank remains committed to fulfilling its mandate to transform the structure of African trade by supporting manufacturing, expanding intra-African trade, strengthening regional value chains, and increasing Africa’s participation in global trade.