A distinguished panel of international academics, policy specialists and financial leaders will guide discussions at DataPro Limited’s sixth International Rating Webinar on 8 October 2026, focusing on strategies to elevate African nations to investment-grade sovereign credit ratings.
The confirmed speakers include Dr Misheck Mutize, Lead Expert on Credit Rating Agencies at the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), who is spearheading the establishment of the Africa Credit Rating Agency (AfCRA). His work centres on debt sustainability, sovereign risk and global financial reform.
Joining him is Dr Daniel Cash, Founder of the Credit Rating Research Initiative, Associate Professor at Aston University and Senior Fellow at the UN University’s Centre for Policy Research. A former Fulbright Scholar and author of nine books on the credit rating industry, Cash is regarded as one of the leading academic voices in the field.
Prof. Dr Torsten Schmidt, Head of Macroeconomics and Public Finance Research at RWI-Essen, will contribute expertise in empirical macroeconomics. Since 2020 he has led the institute’s division on growth, business cycles and public finance, offering analysis of international macroeconomic trends and financial development.
Completing the panel is Prof. Kai Gehring, Professor of Political Economy at the University of Bern. With research experience at Harvard, Cambridge and Stanford, Gehring specialises in the political economy of international organisations such as the IMF and World Bank, as well as the effectiveness and allocation of development finance.
The webinar, themed “Sovereign Credit Rating: Africa’s Roadmap to Investment Grade Status,” will run from 14:00 to 16:00 West Africa Time. A keynote address titled “Achieving Investment-Grade Rating by 2030: The Roadmap for Nigeria” will set the tone for the session.
Organisers said the gathering responds to shifting global financial dynamics and the urgent need to address Africa’s sovereign risk profile and domestic market architecture. Discussions are expected to examine structural reforms, debt sustainability strategies and economic policies required to strengthen the continent’s position in international capital markets.
Registration for the event remains open, with places limited.
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