Fitch Ratings, the global credit rating agency, has affirmed the African Development Bank’s (AfDB) Long-Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at ‘AAA’, with stable outlook.
According to the agency, “the ‘AAA’ rating of the AfDB is driven by extraordinary support it receives from its shareholders, which Fitch Ratings assesses at ‘aaa’”. It judged the Bank’s risk management policies as conservative and excellent in line with ‘AAA’ rated regional peers.
Fitch Ratings assessed “the Bank’s liquidity profile at ‘aaa’, reflecting an ‘excellent’ liquidity buffer and quality of liquid assets”, while “the bank’s capitalization is judged strong reflecting strong equity-to-assets ratio”.
The rating agency “assumes a 125% in subscribed capital from 2021 as per the Bank’s 7th General Capital Increase plan approved in October 2019”, noting that it “expects all non-regional shareholders will make their first payments before October 2021”.
In April 2020, the Bank's Board of Directors approved a group-wide up to $10 billion COVID-19 Response Facility to be made available to current borrowers to ease the economic impact of the COVID-19 crisis.
Commenting on the development, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank said, “We are delighted with the affirmation of the ‘AAA’ rating of the Bank, with a stable outlook, by Fitch Ratings, despite the global and regional economic challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic. We will continue to strengthen our policy relevance to support regional member countries, especially during and after the period of COVID-19, while ensuring that we maintain our prudential ratios with adequate buffers”.
“The Bank will continue to apply strong risk management. We are positive that African countries’ economies will recover as the pandemic subsides and Africa returns to a positive GDP growth trajectory,” Adesina added.
“The strong support of our shareholders will continue to be critical to allow the Bank to continue to play its leading role in supporting development in Africa,” said Swazi Tshabalala, the Vice President for Finance and Chief Finance Officer at the African Development Bank.
The ‘AAA’ rating with a stable outlook of the African Development Bank by Fitch Ratings follows an earlier affirmation of the ‘AAA’ rating of the Bank, with stable outlook, by Standard and Poor’s Global Ratings.
• Inflation within the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) fell to a two-year low of 0....
• Interbank volumes rose 18.7% in May, while rates declined across the market• The BCEAO cut its mai...
• The U.S. imposed a 20% tariff on cashew exports from Vietnam and a 40% tax on suspected transshipm...
Cauri Money launches Gajo Money, an e-wallet for the Cameroonian diaspora, targeting €120 mil...
• Qatar Airways and Kenya Airways establish strategic agreement, introducing a third daily flight be...
MTN has announced the launch of the MTN Cloud Accelerator, a 12-week hybrid program designed to help African startups scale faster by leveraging MTN’s...
• CMOC increased cobalt production by 13% to 61,073 tonnes in the first half of 2025.• The DRC extended its cobalt export ban, forcing CMOC to stockpile...
Kenya plans to import 1.05 million tonnes of palm oil in 2025/2026, near its highest ever level. Malaysia supplies 90% of Kenya’s palm oil, sharply...
Power Africa closed after 12 years, leaving a gap in Africa’s electrification push. Mission 300 aims to connect 300 million Africans to electricity...
The Emerald Sea is a vast turquoise lagoon located in the northern part of Madagascar, just a few kilometers from the town of Antsiranana (formerly Diego...
Malawi’s Mount Mulanje and Cameroon’s Diy-Gid-Biy added to UNESCO World Heritage List Africa still holds 25% of endangered sites, despite recent...