By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The New York based credit rating agency Moody’s has withdrawn its credit ratings for South Africa’s African Bank, ending its rating coverage of the lender.
In a statement, the rating agency said, “The withdrawal includes the South African lender’s Ba2/NP long- and short-term deposit ratings, Ba1/NP long- and short-term Counterparty Risk Ratings (CRR), Ba1(cr)/NP(cr) long- and short-term Counterparty Risk (CR) assessments, and its b1 Baseline Credit Assessment (BCA) and b1 Adjusted BCA.”
Prior to the withdrawal, the outlook on African Bank’s long-term deposit ratings was stable.
“We have decided to withdraw the rating(s) following a review of the issuer’s request to withdraw its rating(s),” Moody’s said.
A week ago, African Bank announced it had moved to terminate its relationship with Moody’s.
African Bank retains its relationship with S&P Global Ratings, which continues to assess the bank.
It gave the bank 24 months, from the April 2026 notice, to continue using existing local Moody’s ratings for regulatory capital and risk-weighting purposes before shifting to alternative providers.