Afreximbank secures positive investment grade rating from S&P Global

Business, Corporate Affairs

CAIRO, Egypt (NPA) — African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has been assigned a ‘BBB+’ long-term issuer credit rating and an ‘A-2’ short-term issuer credit rating by S&P Global Ratings, with a Stable Outlook. The move reinforces the Bank’s strong financial standing and its critical role in driving trade, industrialisation, and economic development across Africa and the wider Global Africa community.

According to S&P, the rating reflects Afreximbank’s growing strategic importance, robust enterprise risk profile, and expanding role as a countercyclical institution supporting African economies through periods of global and regional uncertainty. The agency highlighted the Bank’s strong policy relevance and shareholder support, underscoring its role in advancing intra-African trade, supporting the African Continental Free Trade Area, and developing transformative platforms that strengthen regional integration and resilience.

Between 2015 and 2025, Afreximbank’s total assets expanded from $7.1 billion to $42.3 billion, while shareholders’ equity grew from $1.3 billion to $8.4 billion, reflecting significant capital injections and lending growth.

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Commenting on the rating, Afreximbank President and Chairman of the Board Dr. George Elombi described it as “a strong endorsement of Afreximbank’s financial strength, stability, and international credibility, and a clear affirmation of its strategic importance to — and impact across — Global Africa.” He added that Africa’s economic transformation requires “deliberate, bold, courageous and decisive action by the continent itself, working with its diaspora.”

S&P also noted Afreximbank’s track record in responding to external shocks, including the global financial crisis, commodity price downturn, COVID-19, the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and most recently the Middle East crisis. The Bank has announced a US$10 billion Gulf Crisis Response Programme (GCRP) to shield African and Caribbean economies from regional shocks.

Afreximbank continues to strengthen systems supporting African trade and investment, including the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System, the Africa Trade Gateway, and the AfCFTA Adjustment Fund. The Stable Outlook reflects S&P’s view of Afreximbank’s strengthened role as a countercyclical lender, ongoing shareholder support, and consecutive capital increases.

The Bank remains focused on delivering its mandate to transform the structure of African trade by supporting industrialisation, expanding intra-African trade, strengthening regional value chains, and increasing Africa’s participation in global trade.