Seven African countries, including Ghana, received upgrade in their credit ratings in 2025 from Standard & Poor’s (S&P). These upgrades were driven primarily by improving growth prospects and reform momentum.
According to a report published on February 19, 2026 by S&P on Africa Credit Rating Trends in 2025, the upgrades had a ripple effect, leading the rating agency to take positive rating actions on financial and corporate entities in countries including Egypt, Morocco, and South Africa.
According to the rating agency, divergent credit narratives emerged in 2025 leading it to take various rating actions on African sovereigns.
“The main factors supporting our seven upgrades were improving growth prospects and favorable reform momentum. Additionally, fiscal improvements and diminishing liquidity pressures helped enhance credit profiles, and Ghana and Zambia made critical progress with debt restructuring under the G20 framework,” the report indicated.
“Commodity dynamics contributed to rating changes. Weaker diamond prices have strained Botswana’s fiscal performance, while favorable prices for gold and cocoa have supported revenues and external balances in South Africa, Ghana, and Côte d’Ivoire,” it added.
The report mentioned that while many countries saw improvements, the rating agency took negative rating actions on Botswana and Senegal which reflect specific challenges such as declining diamond prices and high debt adding that institutional instability in Benin and Madagascar led them to revise it outlooks.
It said the year started with five sovereigns on positive outlooks with four countries including Morocco, Egypt, South Africa, and Togo which were followed later by Benin being the exception.
The report further noted that the upgrades led directly or indirectly to similar positive rating actions across the financial and corporate sectors covered in Egypt, Morocco, and South Africa.
“Similarly, our positive outlook on Nigeria led us to revise our outlooks on Nigerian banks in 2025. Our corporate rating actions also reflected the positive commodity cycle and structural reforms that underpinned stronger economic prospects in Morocco and Nigeria, as well as stronger fiscal outcomes in South Africa,” the report added.
“Political instability was evident in both Benin and Madagascar, leading us to revise our positive outlook to stable on the former, while we placed the latter on CreditWatch with negative implications,” parts of the Report stated.
By Ebenezer K. Amponsah