Afreximbank Cuts Credit Rating Ties With Fitch Months After Downgrade

The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has terminated its credit rating relationship with Fitch Ratings, more than seven months after a controversial downgrade of its debt outlook.

The pan-African lender said: “This decision follows a review of the relationship, and its 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’s business profile remains robust, underpinned by strong shareholder relationships and the legal protections embedded in its Establishment Agreement, signed and ratified by its member states.”

On 4 June 2025, Fitch downgraded Afreximbank’s Long-Term Issuer Default Rating to ‘BBB-‘ from ‘BBB’, with its outlook said to be negative. Fitch also downgraded Afreximbank’s Short-Term IDR to ‘F3’ from ‘F2’ and the long-term ratings on the bank’s Global Medium-Term Note Programme and debt issuances to ‘BBB-‘ from ‘BBB’.

But Afreximbank rejected the development in a statement on 10 June, saying Fitch’s ‘negative outlook’ decision, which it says reflects ‘the risk that the debt owed to Afreximbank by some of its sovereign borrowers may be restructured’, was “hinged on the erroneous view, in some quarters, that the treaty establishing Afreximbank, executed by its 53 participating African states, can be violated by the bank without consequences”.

“For clarity, the bank establishment agreement is a treaty entered into by, and among, all participating states and between the participating states and the Bank. Accordingly, Afreximbank would like to reaffirm that it is not participating in debt restructuring negotiations related to any of its member countries. To do so would be inconsistent with the bank establishment treaty. The treatment of its loans and other activities is governed by the treaty and not by classifications created outside its framework,” it said.