CARE Ratings (Africa) Private Limited (CRAF) is incorporated in Mauritius and is the first credit rating agency to be licensed by the Financial Services Commission of Mauritius from May 7, 2015. It is also recognized by Bank of Mauritius as External Credit Assessment Institution (ECAI) from May 9, 2016. CRAF provides credit ratings and related services in Mauritius and has plans to venture into other geographies of Africa.
As on March 31, 2017, CRAF’s shareholders are CARE Ratings Limited (CARE Ratings), African Development Bank (AfDB) and MCB Equity Fund (MEF) & SBM (NFC) Holdings Limited (SNHL). The experienced mix of shareholders will enable the entity to have stronger brand recognition in the African continent. The management control will be with CARE Ratings which has majority shareholding. CRAF gets technical support in the areas such as rating systems and procedures, methodologies, etc. from CARE Ratings on an ongoing basis. The technical support shall ensure that CRAF has adequate resources to provide high quality credit opinions on an ongoing basis.