GIC Rating launches Central Africa ratings forum
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Camer.be
GIC Rating is organising the first regional forum on financial ratings in Central Africa in Douala, after its agency was approved by COSUMAF on 7 August 2026. The agency has not yet rated any issuer but aims to offer a regional alternative to Moody’s, S&P and Fitch, according to Camer.be.
GIC Rating, the financial ratings agency of Geneva Investment Corporation, opened the first regional forum on ratings in Central Africa in Douala on 28 October. Approved on 7 August 2026 by COSUMAF, the CEMAC financial markets supervisory authority, it is the first ratings agency authorised in the region, according to Camer.be.
The agency has not yet assigned any sovereign, bank or corporate ratings. It has nevertheless established 12 expert committees, six of them specialising in sovereign, banking, microfinance, insurance, airport infrastructure and securities sectors. Its managing director and chief executive, Serge Mathieu Kombou, said discussions had begun with Aéroports du Cameroun about a possible rating linked to the project to open up its capital.
The discussions focus on the cost of public borrowing, as Cameroon is rated B- by S&P and Fitch and Caa1 by Moody’s, while Gabon is rated CCC- and Congo CCC+ by international agencies. The forum comes as growth in CEMAC reached 2.6% in 2025, according to data presented in CEMAC growth slows to 2.6% in 2025.
