The African Union has officially unveiled the African Credit Rating Agency, a homegrown body meant to rate the continent's borrowers on its own terms. Supporters hope it will chip away at the high borrowing costs many African states face when they tap international debt markets. Until now, sovereign ratings for African countries have come almost entirely from the established global agencies, whose judgments governments frequently dispute as too harsh. A regional assessor, backers contend, will better grasp local economic realities and weigh factors outsiders tend to overlook. The launch sits within a wider push for African financial institutions that can hold their own rather than depend on external verdicts. Much will depend on whether investors actually trust the new agency's opinions, since a rating nobody believes moves nothing. Its first sovereign assessments will show quickly what weight the newcomer carries.