Fitch Rating |

Fitch affirms African Development Bank at ‘AAA’; outlook stable

ABIDJAN (Capital Markets in Africa) – Fitch Ratings has affirmed the African Development Bank’s (AfDB) Long-Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at ‘AAA’ with a Stable Outlook and Short- Term IDR at ‘F1+’. The ‘AAA’ rating primarily reflects extraordinary support from AfDB’s shareholders, assessed by Fitch at ‘aaa’, which provides a three-notch uplift over the bank’s intrinsic rating. AfDB enjoys strong support from its 80 member states, which include 26 non-African countries with high average ratings….

Fitch may be next to slap South Africa with “junk” rating

Posted on by The Editorial Team

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Ratings agency Fitch is likely to follow rival S&P and cut South Africa’s sovereign credit rating to below investment-grade, analysts said, an outcome that would underscore worries about political uncertainty and prompt a further selloff in assets. S&P Global Ratings cut South Africa’s foreign currency debt to speculative grade or “junk” status in an unscheduled review on Monday, citing political tensions that led to the sacking of respected finance…

Fitch: Redenomination Risk and Sovereign Rating Implications

Posted on by The Editorial Team

LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) – Fitch Ratings says that it is not always possible to say categorically that a sovereign debt redenomination into a different currency would be a default, under Fitch’s sovereign rating criteria. The agency would assess such an event on a case-by-case basis, taking into account all relevant information at the time. In response to recent investor enquiries, in a new report Fitch sets out some potential scenarios involving redenomination of…

Nigerian Banks Continue To Face Challenges Amidst Foreign Currency Shortage

Posted on by The Editorial Team

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Fitch Ratings says Nigerian banks will continue to face challenges this year, following an extremely difficult 2016. Banks faced multiple threats from the operating environment in 2016, including Nigeria sliding into recession, the economy continuing to suffer from low oil prices and severe shortages of foreign currency (FC). Consequently banks struggled with declining operating profitability (excluding translation gains), sluggish credit growth, fast asset quality deterioration, tight FC liquidity and…