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By Uche Usim
The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has officially cut ties with Fitch Ratings, a move that ends a long-running dispute over how the global rating firm judges the bank’s financial strength.
Fitch Ratings is one of the world’s top credit rating agencies that judge how financially reliable countries, banks and companies are.
In simple terms, Fitch tells investors how risky it is to lend money to a government or business entity.
In a statement released on Friday, Afreximbank said it no longer believes Fitch’s rating reflects the bank’s legal foundation, mission or mandate.
According to the Pan-African lender, the rating model being applied does not properly account for the bank’s treaty-based protections or its unique role in financing African trade and development.
“This decision follows a review of the relationship, and our firm belief that the credit rating exercise no longer reflects a good understanding of the Bank’s Establishment Agreement, its mission and its mandate,” Afreximbank said.
Fitch had not responded publicly at the time of publication, but the fallout, analysts note, marks a major escalation in a disagreement that has been building for months.
The clash stems from Fitch’s June 2025 decision to downgrade Afreximbank’s long-term credit rating from BBB to BBB-, with a negative outlook. The agency cited concerns about the bank’s exposure to loans made to African governments, especially countries facing debt challenges.
Fitch highlighted sovereign exposures to countries such as Ghana, South Sudan, and Zambia, some of which were undergoing or at risk of debt restructuring. It also raised red flags about asset quality, transparency, and how the bank applies IFRS 9 accounting standards.
A key area of disagreement was how to classify non-performing loans (NPLs). Fitch estimated Afreximbank’s NPL ratio at 7.1percent, while the bank reported a significantly lower 2.3 percent.
