Why the African Union Commission should consider National Data Exchange Infrastructure as the backbone for reliable country information and statistics.
Africa’s continental reporting is only as strong as the information and data supplied by its Member States. For the African Union Commission, strengthening reporting under Africa Credit Rating Agency (AfCRA) should therefore begin below the reporting platform itself. The focus should be on the national systems that produce, verify and exchange data.
The National Data Exchange Infrastructure (NDEI) framework provides that foundation. It offers an indepedent governance mechanism for authorised institutions to discover, access and exchange data across otherwise disconnected systems at country level.
At the recent official launch of AfCRA in Mauritius, the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, H.E. Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, emphasised that credit ratings shape both the cost and availability of capital. He warned that when assessments fail to reflect African data, realities and context adequately, countries may face higher borrowing costs that restrict investment in critical development priorities.
Where assessments do not sufficiently reflect African data, realities and context, countries can face higher borrowing costs, constraining their ability to finance infrastructure, health, education, energy, industrialisation and other development priorities, at a time when many Member States are already facing significant debt-servicing pressures. (H.E. Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, Chairperson of the African Union Commission, 7 October 2026)
The reporting challenge starts nationally
Country reporting often depends on information held by many institutions: statistics offices, ministries, regulators, registries, customs agencies, private sector partners and sector authorities. When these systems cannot communicate, reporting becomes labour-intensive. Data must be requested repeatedly, reconciled manually and submitted through parallel channels. The result can be delayed returns, inconsistent definitions, duplicated effort and gaps in the evidence available for continental analysis. That is when trust is usurp.
AfCRA reporting needs more than a continental collection mechanism; it needs trusted national data foundations.
What NDEI would change
NDEI would not require every country to build identical databases or surrender control of national data. Instead, it would establish the independent governance, interoperable standards, incentives, nationally approved guidelines and technical mechanisms through which approved data can move securely between institutions internally as well as with AfCRA and any other external party.
The independent governance mechanism of NDEI in each country is therefore as important as its technology. At AfCRA’s launch, H.E. Mahmoud Ali Youssouf stressed that the agency’s credibility would depend on independence, professionalism, transparency and internationally recognised standards, with ratings grounded in evidence and protected from political considerations and conflicts of interest.
The same principles underpin the design and development of NDEI framework and will play a central role in its deployment in each country. A nationally owned but operationally independent governance mechanism should define access rules, oversee data quality and standards, maintain auditability, manage conflicts of interest, ensure benefits, protect the integrity of information and ensure sustainable supply of data for AfCRA reporting. Such a mechanism would not weaken national authority; it would strengthen confidence that the data reaching AfCRA are credible, transparent and fit for independent assessment.
This institutional foundation should complement countries’ continuing responsibilities to improve macroeconomic management, fiscal discipline, transparency and debt sustainability.
In practical terms, the NDEI framework creates a trusted pathway from national data producers, through designated country reporting processes, into AfCRA reporting and continental analysis.
A call to the African Union Commission
The African Union Commission should consider NDEI framework as a core enabling layer for AfCRA and as a programme of national capability building for better information, statistics and accountability.
The strategic proposition is straightforward: strengthen the national data foundations, and the quality of continental reporting will improve. By helping Member States connect and govern their information systems, the Commission can make AfCRA reporting more reliable, more timely and more useful for African decision-making.
