Africa's first sovereign ratings agency is up and running

Sovereign Africa Ratings (SAR) has published its first credit rating report for South Africa, rating the country BBB with stable outlook in the long term and B+ with stable outlook in the short term, broadly in line with the ratings of the world's leading agencies.

The SAR rating model consists of 82 variables, including: fiscal, economic, environmental, governance, as well as climate change and natural resources.

SAR chief ratings officer David Mosaka said that as the agency grows in the market, it will create sub-ratings for other countries in Africa as well.

The world's three largest rating agencies Standard & Poor's, Moody's and Fitch (all from the US) have existed since 1860, 1909 and 1913 respectively and hold 95% of the credit rating market.