African Development Bank, AfDB has credited the recent triple AAA with a stable outlook rating by global credit rating agency Fitch Incorporated as a result of the extraordinary support it receives from its shareholders.
The new triple-A rating from Fitch for the bank comes after an earlier triple-A rating from another global rating agency, Standard and Poor, S&P.
The development was disclosed by the developmental bank in a statement published on Tuesday on its website.
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“The ‘AAA’ rating of the AfDB is driven by extraordinary support it receives from its shareholders, which Fitch Ratings assess at ‘AAA’. It judged the Bank’s risk management policies as conservative and excellent in line with ‘AAA’ rated regional peers,” the bank said.
This is a welcomed development for the bank which has been rocked by allegations of corruption leveled against its president, Nigeria’s Akinwunmi Adesina.
Recall that Adesina’s bid for a second term has run into troubled waters over the request by the US government to commence an independent investigation into allegations of corruption leveled against him by anonymous employees of the developmental bank.
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The United States had in a letter dated May 22nd, and addressed to Madame Minister Niale Kaba in her capacity as chairman of the AfDB’s Bureau of Board of Governors and signed by Mnuchin maintained that “the United States cannot support dismissing the allegations at this stage.”
Mnuchin had in his letter stated: “We thus request that you (Madame Kaba) take steps to initiate an impartial, independent investigation into these allegations. Whatever the outcome, the AfDB will emerge stronger for having taken seriously its obligations to uphold good governance. The United States sincerely wishes AfDB to remain a high-quality institution with the capability to address the needs of the African continent, particularly at this critical time.
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In light of the above, the vote of confidence of (AfDB)’s Long-Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) which has been rated AAA with a stable outlook by a global credit rating agency Fitch is a welcomed development.
Adesina disclosed that the bank is delighted to have the credit rating despite the economic downturns and challenges due to the pandemic. He added that the bank will continue strengthening its policy to support regional member countries, especially during and after the period of COVID-19, while ensuring that the bank maintains its prudential ratios with adequate buffers.
He said the bank will continue its strong risk management policies and is positive the economies in sub-Saharan African will recover and return to positive growth.
On his part, AfDB’s Vice President for Finance and Chief Finance Officer, Swazi Tshabalala, said, “The strong support of our shareholders will continue to be critical to allow the Bank to continue to play its leading role in supporting development in Africa”.
