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S&P Says Political Tension in South Africa ‘Must Be Watched’

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Political tension in South Africa is making economic reforms more challenging and must be watched, according to S&P Global Ratings. “We clearly stated that there is a concern that political tension stifles the reform effort, so that must be watched,” S&P Managing Director for sub-Saharan Africa Konrad Reuss said in an interview in Johannesburg on Thursday. “In the current climate of political tension and turmoil it’s certainly more challenging now to achieve all…

Moody’s Sees One-Third Probability of South Africa Downgrade

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JOHANNESBURG, Capital Markets in Africa: The probability that South Africa’s sovereign credit rating could be cut in November by Moody’s Investors Service is about a third, the company’s Vice President Zuzana Brixiova said. “We expect the probability of a downgrade at less than 50 percent, its closer to around one third,” Brixiova told reporters in Johannesburg on Tuesday. The country’s growth path will be “very important,” she said. South Africa is struggling to revitalize the economy…

Fitch: Global Sovereign Rating Changes From Criteria Update

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LONDON, Capital Markets in Africa: Fitch Ratings published on Friday 22 July a review of its entire sovereign rating portfolio, incorporating changes to ratings derived from the application of its revised Sovereign Rating Criteria (dated 18 July 2016). The review focused on the notching relationship between sovereign Long-Term Local Currency (LTLC) and Long-Term Foreign Currency (LTFC) Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs), a review of existing Short-Term Foreign Currency (STFC) IDRs and the assignment of new Short-Term…

South Africa’s Credit-Rating Outlook Kept at Stable by Fitch

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Johannesburg, South Africa, Capital Markets in Africa: Fitch Ratings Ltd. has maintained its outlook on South Africa’s credit rating at stable, giving the country more time to avoid having its debt assessment cut to junk, even as the economy contracted in the first quarter. South Africa’s foreign-currency rating was kept at BBB-, the lowest investment-grade level, Fitch said in a statement Wednesday. The assessment is better than that of S&P Global Ratings, which affirmed its BBB- level with a negative outlook on…

Moody’s affirms Gabon’s Ba3 ratings; outlook stable

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Libreville, Gabon, Capital Markets in Africa —- Moody’s Investors Service has today affirmed the Republic of Gabon’s Ba3 issuer and government bond ratings. The outlook is stable. The key drivers behind Moody’s decision to affirm the Ba3 ratings are: (1) Moody’s expectation that the oil shock-induced deterioration in the government’s debt profile will reverse from 2017 onwards and will remain in line with similar rated peers; (2) the country’s membership of the Economic and Monetary…

In Tunisia, Second Deadly Attack on Tourists in Four Months Is Credit Negative

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Tunis, Tunisia (Capital Markets in Africa) — Last Friday, a Tunisian student attacked foreign tourists at a beach resort in Sousse, Tunisia, killing at least 38. It was the second large-scale attack on foreign tourists in the country in just four months, following two Tunisian gunmen killing 22 people at a museum in Tunis in March. Although Tunisia’s (Ba3 stable) successful democratic transition between 2011 and 2014 and our outlook for its economic recovery prompted…

Moody’s affirms Tunisia’s government issuer rating at Ba3 and changes the outlook to stable from negative

Posted on by The Editorial Team

Tunis, Tunisa (Capital Markets in Africa) — Global rating agency Moody’s has affirmed Tunisia’s government issuer rating at Ba3 and changed the outlook to stable from negative. The key drivers for the ratings rationale were attributed to a significant decline in domestic political risk emphasized by the successful democratic transition and installing of a broad unity government. As well as reduced external funding challenges following the resumption of official financing and access to international capital…

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