The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), on Friday, announced the termination of its credit rating relationship with Fitch Ratings.

In a terse statement, the pan-African multilateral financial institution said the decision “follows a review of the relationship, and its firm belief that the credit rating exercise no longer reflects a good understanding of the Bank’s Establishment Agreement, its mission and its mandate.”

The statement added: “Afreximbank’s business profile remains robust, underpinned by strong shareholder relationships and the legal protections embedded in its Establishment Agreement, signed and ratified by its member states.”

On June 11 last year Afreximbank criticised Fitch Ratings’ downgrade of its credit rating. Fitch had announced on June 4 2025 that it was downgrading Afreximbank to BBB-, the lowest investment grade rating and one notch above junk, after reassessing its credit risk as “high” and its risk management policies as “weak”.

The rating agency cit- ed concerns that non-performing sovereign loans in Ghana and Zambia might be included in re- structuring efforts along- side commercial creditors. Afreximbank was at the time owed around $750 m by Ghana and $45 m by Zambia, and also had exposure to Malawi and South Sudan.

Fitch said it believed Afreximbank’s non-per- forming loan ratio should be recorded at 7.1% rather than the 2.3% reported.

However, Afreximbank argued that it should be treated as a preferential creditor and excluded from restructuring, which is the norm for larger development financiers like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.

It contended that Fitch’s decision “is hinged on the erroneous view” that its establishing treaty “can be violated by the bank without consequences”. That treaty, which was executed by 53 African states, requires that the Multilateral Development Bank (MDB) should not participate in debt restructuring negotiations.