On Tuesday, one panel wey get Africa experts urge the Group of 20 (G20) make dem strengthen oversight of credit rating agencies, because dem accuse those agencies of using faulty and secret methods wey dey raise how much African governments dey pay to borrow money.

The panel, wey South Africa set up under im G20 presidency, talk for a report to the group say rating agencies show "perception biases", and dem dey often rate Africa as more risky than other regions wey get similar economic fundamentals.

Before the G20 summit this weekend, the panel ask the group to put stricter oversight on rating agencies and make dem force the agencies to disclose more of the data and models wey dey behind their decisions.

Dem also recommend make dem update the rating frameworks so dem go better capture the diversity of African economies—like growth potential and natural resources—and make dem avoid quick, knee-jerk rating cuts wey fit make financial stress worse.

AU dey work on African credit rating body

S&P Global Ratings, Moody’s and Fitch reject the accusation of regional bias. Dem talk say their sovereign ratings base on criteria wey dem apply worldwide and wey dey publicly available, and that dem dey use the same methodologies for all countries.

Meanwhile, the African Union dey work on an African Credit Rating Agency wey dem plan to launch for the second half of 2025 to give an Africa-based assessment of credit risk.

The panel say the perception bias wey dey inside the ratings methodologies dey inflate the cost of raising capital for African governments and companies for global financial markets.

The report say the rating agencies' methodologies remain flawed, and dem add say the agencies dey make am hard for people to scrutinise or challenge their conclusions.

The panel chair na South Africa former Finance Minister Trevor Manuel, and members include Nobel laureate economist Esther Duflo and former African Development Bank President Donald Kaberuka.