Kenya Hosts Africa Forward Summit on Credit Risk and Investment

Policymakers gathering at the Africa Forward Summit in Nairobi will focus on ways to rethink how to price risk on the continent and unlock investment, Kenya’s foreign minister told Reuters. The two-day event opened on May 11, 2026, as African leaders have long argued that global credit rating agencies overstate the continent’s risk, pushing up borrowing costs and deterring investment.

Musalia Mudavadi, Kenya’s foreign minister, said the presence of global and regional lenders at the summit — including the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the African Development Bank — would support attempts to tackle the risk perception.

“This dialogue should help produce better financing mechanisms to support Africa,” Mudavadi said. Mudavadi also described the African Union’s aim to set up a continental credit ratings agency to provide a more accurate assessment of African risk as a “critical” effort.

Global ratings agencies face growing criticism for relying on offshore models that some African policymakers say misread local realities.

The debate was thrust into the spotlight this year when Afreximbank severed its ties with Fitch in 2026. Semafor reported that the African Union’s planned agency would address longstanding complaints about external assessments of the continent. Musalia Mudavadi spoke to Reuters about the Africa Forward Summit as Kenyan officials seek to lead calls for change in how international markets evaluate African economies.

The presence of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the African Development Bank at the Nairobi gathering underscores the breadth of institutions now engaged in the discussion. Semafor reported the criticism centers on models that fail to capture local conditions and realities on the ground.