Africa Re’s financial rating upgrade to Full “ A ” by S&P signals stronger creditworthiness, reliable partnerships
Nike Popoola
On 26 November 2025, Standard and Poor’s (S&P) Global Ratings raised the global- scale long-term issuer credit and insurer financial strength ratings of Africa Re (African Reinsurance Corporation or Corporation) to Full “A” with a Stable Outlook from “A Minus” with Positive Outlook. This followed S&P’s revision of Africa Re’s outlook from A – (Minus) / Stable Outlook to A – (Minus) / Positive Outlook in November 2024, leading to two consecutive positive rating actions within a 12-month period. The last time the Corporation received a rating upgrade from S&P was 16 years ago, in 2009.
A statement on Wednesday from the organisation said the rating upgrade reflects Africa Re’s consistent strong operating performance, robust underwriting results, disciplined risk management, diversified pan-African footprint, and brand recognition in selected international markets. It demonstrates that an African-born and African-led reinsurance company can compete on the international stage across all dimensions including technical excellence, capital strength, financial ratings, financial performance, and business resilience.
The Group Managing Director / Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Corneille Karekezi, noted that “the Board, Executive Management and staff members of the Corporation received the good news with immense satisfaction,joy, and pride. We all at Africa Re are delighted about this historic milestone and express profound gratitude to our cedants, brokers, shareholders, partners and other stakeholders for their continued support and loyalty to the Corporation. This achievement places the Corporation among the very few indigenous reinsurance companies to be so rated from the developing and emerging economies of the world.”
S&P has highlighted Africa Re’s sustained profitability, robust capitalization, and proven resilience across multiple markets including Africa and other territories.
The rating upgrade not only validates the Corporation’s robust financial strength but also affirms its continued and even stronger ability to honour its obligations and build reliable partnerships. This distinctive competence is a key strategic advantage for insurance cedants, brokers, regulators and other partners who rely on Africa Re’s Full A rated capacity, responsiveness, and technical excellence.
Dr. Karekezi further commented that “this milestone, a few months to our golden jubilee celebrations, is a strong indication of the maturity of the Africa Re brand as a trusted and reliable reinsurance security for African as well as other emerging, developing, and advanced economies of the world. It opens more opportunities to forge meaningful and mutually beneficial partnerships to reduce the persistent insurance protection gap and provide innovative solutions to address current risks and issues, among which are cyber security, climate change and resilience. ”
“The Corporation embraces the responsibility of this milestone achievement and remains motivated to serve our beloved continent, Africa, and beyond. This is a renewed commitment to excellence in client engagement in the placement of their reinsurance business for long-term value alignment,” Africa Re stated.
