Seven sovereign upgrades in Africa in 2025 including Ghana by S&P Global Rating were driven primarily by improving growth prospects and reform momentum.

According to the global rating agency, these upgrades had a ripple effect, leading it to take positive rating actions on financial and corporate entities in countries including Egypt, Morocco, and South Africa.

It raised Ghana’s rating by one notch from ‘CCC+’ to B- with a stable outlook. It attributed the upgrade in rating to rising export volumes and favorable prices for key exports—gold and cocoa—supporting the Ghanaian cedi and boosted gross foreign-currency reserves, thereby improving fiscal performance and the balance of payments.

Earlier, in May 2025, it had raised our rating by one notch from ‘SD’ as the authorities’ steps to restructure the remaining commercial debt, following the October 2024 Eurobond exchange, alongside falling inflation, better reflected Ghana’s improving creditworthiness.

“Additionally, fiscal improvements and diminishing liquidity pressures helped enhance credit profiles, and Ghana and Zambia made critical progress with debt restructuring under the G20 framework”, S&P Global Rating said.

Five Sovereigns on Positive Outlooks

It continued that 2026 started with five sovereigns on positive outlooks. Four (Morocco, Egypt, South Africa, and Togo) upgrades followed, with Benin being the exception.

According to the New York based firm, the upgrades led directly or indirectly to similar positive rating actions across the financial and corporate sectors it covers in Egypt, Morocco, and South Africa. “Similarly, our positive outlook on Nigeria led us to revise our outlooks on Nigerian banks in 2025. Our corporate rating actions also reflected the positive commodity cycle and structural reforms that underpinned stronger economic prospects in Morocco and Nigeria, as well as stronger fiscal outcomes in South Africa”.

“We ended the year with South Africa, Cape Verde, Nigeria, and Uganda on positive outlook. Our negative rating actions were on Botswana and Senegal, reflecting depressed diamond prices and elevated debt stock, respectively”, it added.

It stated that political instability was evident in both Benin and Madagascar, leading it to revise its positive outlook to stable on the former.