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S&P Downgrades Nigeria Further Into Junk as Oil Crisis Worsens

LAGOS, Capital Markets in Africa: S&P Global Ratings downgraded Nigeria further into junk territory as Africa’s most populous nation struggles amid low oil prices and severe shortages of foreign-exchange. S&P lowered Nigeria’s rating one level to B, five levels below investment grade and in line with Kyrgyzstan and Angola. The outlook was changed from negative to stable. “Nigeria’s economy has weakened more than we expected owing to a marked contraction in oil production, a restrictive…

Moody’s assigns B2 first-time issuer rating to the Republic of Cameroon with stable outlook

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Yaoundé, Cameroon, Capital Markets in Africa: Moody’s Investors Service (“Moody’s”) has today assigned first-time local and foreign-currency issuer ratings of B2 to the Government of Cameroon. The ratings carry a stable outlook. The rating assignment is based on the following key drivers: (1) Low (+) economic strength balancing the country’s exposure to the oil shock—albeit more contained than for regional peers—and our expectation of a stronger potential growth outlook supported by the infrastructure investment strategy…

South Africa Needs Improvement in Next Six Months, S&P Says

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Johannesburg, South Africa, Capital Markets in Africa: South Africa’s government needs to implement the reforms it promised to boost growth between now and December, S&P Global Ratings sovereign analyst Gardner Rusike said. “We are looking at improvements between now and the next six months,” Johannesburg-based Rusike said on a conference call with reporters on Monday. If the “government moves on to clarify some of the policy areas, it helps on confidence and it helps on investment, which…

AFRICAN CREDIT OUTLOOK: AN ECONOMIST’S PERSPECTIVE

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GAIMIN NONYANE Head of Economic Research desk and Project Manager for Local Knowledge Africa (LKA; an advisory arm at Ecobank Research) at the pan-African bank, Ecobank Group, based in London. Gaimin joined the bank in November 2012, and helped to launch the bank’s first ever Country Profiles, designed to give investors an insight into the operating environment in Middle Africa. Prior to that, she headed the sub-Saharan Africa desk on macroeconomic and political research at…

South Africa’s Economic Outlook Disappoints S&P as It Weighs Rating

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Johannesburg, South Africa, Capital Markets in Africa: Economic growth in South Africa “has continued to disappoint,” S&P Global Ratings said, three weeks before the company is due to complete a review that may see the country cut to junk. S&P may lower the nation’s credit rating to non-investment grade when it announces the result of an assessment of South Africa’s BBB- ranking on June 3. Discussions on the decision are still underway, S&P Managing Director for sub-Saharan Africa Konrad…

Tunisia | Moody’s recalibrates Tunisia’s national rating scale

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Tunis, Tunisia, Capital Markets in Africa: Moody’s Investors Service has repositioned the national scale ratings (NSRs) of four tranches in two Tunisian structured finance transactions in conjunction with the recalibration of the Tunisian national rating scale. NSRs, which provide a measure of relative creditworthiness within a single country, are derived from global scale ratings (GSRs) using country-specific maps. The adoption of a revised correspondence between Moody’s GSRs and the Tunisian national scale follows the publication…

South Africa | Moody’s places South Africa’s Baa2 ratings on review for downgrade

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Johannesburg, South Africa, Capital Markets in Africa — New York, Moody’s Investors Service has today placed the Baa2 bond and issuer ratings of the government of South Africa on review for downgrade. Also placed on review for downgrade were South Africa’s (P)Baa2/(P)P-2 shelf and MTN program ratings. The decision to place the ratings on review was prompted by the continuing rise in risks to the country’s medium-term economic prospects and to its fiscal strength, notwithstanding…

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