Africa sees wave of credit downgrades last year – bucking global trend of net upgrades
- Sub-Saharan Africa hit by 10 downgrades and only 4 upgrades
- North Africa had 5 downgrades and 0 upgrades
- 43% downgrades made to sovereign bonds globally were inside Africa
- Only 8% upgrades made to sovereign bonds globally were outside Africa
African countries saw 15 credit rating downgrades and only 4 upgrades to their sovereign bonds last year, says leading specialty (re)insurance group Chaucer. The wave of credit downgrades in African countries bucks the global trend of net upgrades – with 20 downgrades and 48 upgrades for the rest of the world (excluding Africa) last year.
An increase in global interest rates and volatile currency markets have put a strain on many African countries. Civil unrest and changes of government across a number of Central African states have a...