Bad rap

UN says dubious credit ratings from Big 3 cost Africa $75bn a year

By Julian Pecquet, in Washington

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Posted on April 20, 2023 10:27

© The Big 3: Moodys, S&P, and Fitch Ratings (in photo) in New York, on April 6, 2015. Cem Ozdel / Anadolu Agency — The Big 3: Moodys, S&P, and Fitch Ratings (in photo) in New York, on April 6, 2015. Cem Ozdel / Anadolu Agency

The UN’s international development agency ripped into the methodology used by the Big Three credit rating agencies, throwing its weight behind growing calls to reform an industry blamed for exacerbating Africa’s debt woes.

The UN Development Programme (UNDP) joined forces with the Brookings Institution and Senegalese development advisory firm Africatalyst on the margins of the IMF/World Bank spring meetings on 14 April to demand changes. The event was centred on a new UNDP report that purports to show that “subjective” rankings are costing 21 African countries a combined $74.5bn a year in excess interest payments and lost financing.

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