The American agency Fitch Ratings downgraded the outlook for the West African Development Bank (BOAD) rating, making it stable to negative, while maintaining its “BBB” rating

The Fitch Ratings agency said that the revision of BOAD's outlook reflects the fact that Guinea-Bissau, which represents 5% of the bank's outstanding loans, is in the midst of restructuring its public debt and that it has suspended its public debt. refunds to BOAD. At the same time, Niger, which represents 10% of the portfolio, is slow to resume payments after the lifting of sanctions by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). During a press briefing on Tuesday, May 14, Serge Ekué, the president of the institution based in Togo, said that they were all surprised

In reality, BOAD operates in a troubled environment. Since 2020, the Sahel has been hit by five coup d'État. Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger account for around 30% of the regional development bank's loan portfolio. According to Serge Ekué, “despite the context and ECOWAS sanctions style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style”, "serif">, the BOAD held up perfectly”.