Stanislas Zeze, CEO of the rating and analysis agency Bloomfield Investment Corporation answered questions about the situation of companies and countries in relation to Covid-19. He was in Douala, as the main speaker of the Pro Meet-up & Learn meeting. In his view, Africa should trust its own methods of risk and impact assessment. According to him, it is preferable to build an African convergence in the face of the new challenges of the world

Ecofin Agency: You came to Cameroon for the Pro Meet-up & Learn event, an initiative launched by local entrepreneurs. Why, you who are more often in the analysis of risk profiles of countries and companies, have you agreed to participate in this initiative to share experiences of crisis management by African entrepreneurs?

Stanislas Zeze: In fact, I am a big supporter of discussions and exchanges between Africans. I believe that the solutions in terms of development and emancipation of Africans will be found among Africans. So obviously these solutions can only be found in discussions and exchanges of this type. That's why I encourage this kind of event and I'm always up for it. When they asked me I said yes and this is always my answer, when there is an opportunity to have constructive discussions between Africans, highlight our problems and precisely to find solutions. For Cameroon, I have to say that this is my second home and I am always proud to be there.

Ecofin Agency: You came to share with local entrepreneurs what you have accumulated as knowledge in business management. What is the main message you have brought to these entrepreneurs and, through them, to all entrepreneurs in Africa?

Stanislas Zeze: The message is very simple. We are already going through the Covid-19 crisis, which has demonstrated certain weaknesses in terms of the resilience of our economies. Today, it is important to conduct a real reflection to rethink our economic model and even go further by rethinking the political model of Africans and see how we can arrive at a model that allows us to be self-sufficient. I believe that today it is fundamental. The impact of the crisis has been limited in terms of health. The closure of their borders by the Europeans has allowed us to see how far we can go in Africa. Today it is important to ask ourselves, what is our capacity, to be resilient to these kinds of big external shocks. So we have to sit down, discuss, talk to each other because we have to find solutions. This will allow the African continent to be better prepared to deal with similar situations in the future. This type of situation will still occur in the future and the question is whether we are ready to deal with it. The answer lies in constructive exchanges between Africans, and in actions aimed at finding solutions and proposing them to politicians, and indeed ensuring that they are part of the process of developing the proposed solutions. Finally, it will be necessary to find solutions adapted to the African reality.

Ecofin Agency: Speaking of countries, it must be said that rating agencies of global dimension have been negative on Africa and we are talking about nearly 60% drop in ratings in the world. At Bloomfield Investment, of which you are the CEO and which also rates African countries and companies, you came to the same conclusions? What do you think of this widely shared idea that Africa is too risky and that it has to pay much more than other countries in the world to borrow, while some benefit from zero or even negative rates?

Stanislas Zeze: The challenge with international rating agencies is that they are in a logic aimed at being very reactive. It feels like they react out of emotion. We do not function like that. I think that these agencies do not have a good understanding of the African environment, and the analyses that are done are not done in an African context. They are often made in a so-called global context that is more Western. We in Africa analyze situations based on developments and the real impact that situations like this pandemic can have on African economies and their performance, and then we make decisions. We don't make hot decisions. International credit rating agencies feel that they need to make hot decisions when a situation arises. On the contrary, we do not react out of emotion, we take our time and analyze, because each risk event does not affect countries in the same way. So it's about taking the time and evaluating and that's what we're doing. We assess the situation for each country we monitor. Depending on how the pandemic affects these countries, we will make decisions. It is a mistake from my point of view to make systematic decisions. In this, African rating agencies have a better understanding of the continent, because they can better understand the magnitude of the shock suffered.

Ecofin Agency: Speaking of a financial market that you know well, that of the BRVM, we realized that companies have shown this resilience. And if we talk only about banks, we note that despite an increase in the costs of risk on the income statement, these financial companies have remained profitable. Some of them have seen double-digit growth in their net profits. What message do you think this dynamic sends back?

Stanislas Zeze: It is a message of hope that is very clear. He tells African entrepreneurs not to generalize risk. The risk is contextual and must be assessed in relation to the environment. The resilience of banks in Africa shows that there are things that Africans do very well. Now it's a question of looking at what creates this resilience and analyzing whether it is strong enough and especially how can we capitalize on it. This is true for non-financial corporations, and it is true for banks. This crisis has revealed something that is fundamental. It is important that Africans take their destiny into their own hands. That is something that I think is important. The analyses on the markets would have to be done by themselves, so as to have analyses that are adequate and relevant, because as I said before, the global analyses, we have seen what it has done. It is therefore an opportunity for African countries to rethink their economic model and say to themselves: "We are in a situation of great fragility, and how do we strengthen our resilience? ». And that's what we talked about in Cameroon. We have to start the discussions somewhere. Politicians will certainly make their own analyses, the private sector will make their own. But we must not forget that the private sector is the one that keeps countries alive. Thus the reflection that emanates from it is essential. It is said more that it is time for Africans to understand South-South collaboration. This is where projects like the AfCFTA (African Free Trade Area) are important. This will make it possible to expand the market for Africans, to lower the barriers, which in my opinion are useless, such as visas and others, which limit the scope of possibilities for African companies and African countries. In this logic of things, we can see African countries easily making cross-border loans, without going through international capital markets. The needs of Africans will thus be solved by local decisions. This is where the rating in local currency becomes very important.

Ecofin Agency: When we talk about Cameroon, we always talk about its twin that is Côte d'Ivoire, both are leaders of their respective sub-regions. Côte d'Ivoire is coming out of a difficult presidential election, even if what we are experiencing in the United States pushes us to nuance things. If you had an opinion to give to entrepreneurs who target Côte d'Ivoire, what would it be?

Stanislas Zeze: What is happening in Côte d'Ivoire is now happening in many countries as you said, even in the United States. What is interesting is that politicians always manage to find a political compromise. There have been misunderstandings and disagreements, problems of interpretation of the text, but at the end of the day, the most important thing is the political compromise that is put above all else. The constitution is a political compromise. Once an agreement is reached, it helps to calm the spirits and restore confidence in Côte d'Ivoire and that is what it is about today. It is a country that has an economy with extraordinary resilience, but obviously we understand that with a political problem like the one that has just happened, it reduces attractiveness. It seemed to me that the political compromise is being put in place. Obviously, the private sector should be able to enter into this process and become more involved in the resolution of political conflicts.