This is good news for Abidjan: at the end of last week, the S&P rating agency raised the Ivorian public debt rating from “double B minus” to “double B” with a stable outlook. Thanks to this revision, Côte d’Ivoire rises to second place among sub-Saharan African countries recognized for the quality of their credit, just behind Botswana.
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By revising the Ivorian public debt rating from “double B minus” to “double B” with a stable outlook, the S&P rating agency [ex-Standard & Poor’s, NDLR] reward the Ivory Coast for having been able to maintain strong growth, despite the various shocks of recent years. Despite the pandemic Covid-19the Russian invasion ofUkraine and the galloping inflation that it has triggered, the country has managed to maintain annual GDP growth of more than 5.5% since 2019.
In this respect, the rating agency salutes, in passing, the essential role played by the Central Bank of the CFA zone, the BCEAO, which was able to ensure the “ price stability » in its member states.
Renewed confidence in the Ivorian economy
This “double B” is notably a sign of renewed confidence in the Ivorian economy which could concretely translate into more foreign investment in the country, but also and above all the granting of more advantageous interest rates.
While some analysts were worried about seeing Ivorian finances slipping, this new note issued by S&P also welcomes the effort made by Abidjan to control its debt, since it ultimately only increased by half in the space of three years. The American agency also adds a stable outlook which shows that it does not believe that the Ivorian debt will deteriorate in the coming months.
Finally, another proof which testifies to the growing confidence in the Ivorian economy, is this new loan granted by the IMF to the Ivory Coast at the beginning of October: amounting to 825 million dollars, it is added to the 4.8 billion already granted to the Ivorian government.