麻豆社

The downgrade of South Africa's sovereign debt has once again raised the issue of ratings agencies, the role they play on the markets and the effect they have on wider economies.

Ever since the sub-prime mortgage crash in the US, ratings agencies have come in for some harsh criticism over their methods and funding. But in Africa, there are some interesting moves in the sector - the US buyout group Carlyle has recently bought one the continent's largest agencies. It has been seen as an indication of increased investor enthusiasm in Africa - a thirst for information on local companies and capital markets.

The 麻豆社's Alex Duval-Smith sat down with Stanislas Zeze, the chairman and chief executive of Bloomfield Investments, a company looking to make a mark in the ratings space in West Africa. She asked him if the big three ratings agencies, Standard and Poors, Fitch and Moody's were, to some extent, ignoring Africa.