Joined within the Alliance of Institutions African multilateral financial instruments (AAMFI) on January 29, 2026, the main African multilateral financial institutions have announced the launch of an early warning system designed to detect the first signals of sovereign debt distress.

The Alliance of Financial Institutions African Multilateral Financial (Alliance of African Multilateral Financial) Institutions/AAMFI) has launched an early warning system aimed at detecting first signs of over-indebtedness in the countries of the continent, and to avoid future disputes related to debt restructuring. This alliance known as The name “The Africa Club” brings together seven multilateral institutions regional: Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) , the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), the Bank of Commerce and Development of East and Southern Africa (Trade and Development) Bank/TDB), the African Reinsurance Corporation (Africa Re), African Trade & Investment Development Insurance (ATIDI), Shelter Africa Development Bank (SHAFDB) and the Joint Reinsurance Company of Member States of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (ZEP-RE ).

This initiative follows the controversies that pitting regional multilateral financial institutions against borrowers sovereign governments and credit rating agencies during restructuring processes of the debt of Ghana and Zambia. Afreximbank had announced on January 23 the termination of its relationship with Fitch Ratings style="font-size:14.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: "Bookman Old Style”, serif">, believing that the Rating given by this agency “no longer reflects an understanding adequate to its functioning, its pan-African mandate and its agreement constitutive”.

The launch of an early warning system on the over-indebtedness in Africa occurs in a context marked by the rise of concerns about a new debt crisis on the continent. According to a report published in February 2025 by Afreximbank, nine countries were identified as being in a situation of over-indebtedness: Ghana, Malawi, Mozambique, the Republic of Congo, São Tomé and Príncipe, São Tomé and Príncipe, Somalia, the Sudan, Zambia and Zimbabwe. 19 other countries including Kenya, Cameroon, and Zimbabwe. 19 other countries, including Kenya, Cameroon, Central African Republic and Tunisia, are classified as presenting a high risk of over-indebtedness, according to the same report.

Early warning is now becoming a tool strategic to avoid a new systemic African debt crisis.