(Ecofin Agency) - This new recognition boosts the bank's standing in the global financial world, creating fresh opportunities for funding trade and infrastructure projects in Africa. Following a successful Samurai bond launch in Japan in 2024, the bank is now looking to use its triple-A rating to attract Chinese investors.

Afreximbank, rated triple-A, is set to enter China’s capital market in 2025. After raising ¥81.3 billion (around $520 million) through Samurai bonds in Japan last November, the African trade bank now plans to launch Panda bonds, which are denominated in yuan. This move aims to diversify its funding sources and boost its support for African trade, particularly with China, which has become the continent’s largest trading partner, with trade exceeding $282 billion.

Last week, the Cairo-based bank received a prestigious "AAA/stable" rating from China Chengxin International Credit Rating (CCXI), becoming the first African multilateral financial institution to earn such a distinction. Moody’s is a shareholder in CCXI. The agency forecasts that the rating will remain stable for the next 12 to 18 months.

CCXI highlighted several factors in granting this rating, including Afreximbank's strong strategic position, solid risk management, profitability, and prudent liquidity management. The agency also praised the bank’s ability to meet the needs of its member states, even amid challenging economic conditions.

Denys Denya, the bank’s executive vice president, called the rating a significant achievement. “This is, again, a testament to the Bank’s systemic relevance to the African continent; its strong delivery of its developmental mandate; its prudent risk management practices and its relentless focus on capital and liquidity over the years which have culminated in a formidable rating that provides us with new opportunities to raise competitively priced capital in China and to diversify our funding partnerships,” he said.

Founded in 1993 to promote intra-African trade, Afreximbank has seen rapid growth in recent years. Its assets have grown by an average of 28% annually since 2019, and its return on equity is 11%. In 2021, it launched a $2.6 billion capital increase, of which 90% has already been mobilized, despite a challenging global economic environment.

Last year’s Samurai bond issuance, rated "A-" by the Japan Credit Rating Agency (JCR), attracted significant interest, with nearly 150 orders from a range of investors, including asset managers, banks, and insurance companies.