S&P Global takes majority stake in Nigeria's Agusto

S&P Global said Tuesday it had acquired a majority stake in Lagos-based credit ratings agency Agusto & Co. as it seeks to expand in Africa's domestic credit ratings market.

Agusto & Co. was founded in 1992 by Nigerian economist Olabode Agusto and operates in Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana and Rwanda.

S&P Global said the investment would support the growth strategy of its African business, which currently depends mainly on its South African office. It said the deal was its first of this kind on the continent, although its S&P Global Commodity Insights subsidiary has an office in Abuja.

Details of the transaction were not disclosed. The transaction is expected to close in the second half of the year.

The acquisition comes as African leaders and finance ministers argue that major global credit ratings agencies overstate political and economic risks across the continent, raising borrowing costs and constraining economic growth.