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Empowerment credentials
GCR is a firm proponent of Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment (“BEE”) principals, and is currently the only international credit rating agency in Africa to boast any form of empowerment credentials. GCR’s commitment to empowering previously disadvantaged groups is evident in 3 key areas, namely:
i) Share ownership. Thirty percent of GCR SA’s ordinary issued share capital is owned by indigenous black shareholders. The principal BEE shareholder is Moss Ngoasheng, formerly the Economic Advisor to President Thabo Mbeki, and currently the Executive Chairman of Safika Holdings, one of South Africa’s leading BEE companies.
ii) Management. Of GCR’s most senior management team (i.e. directors, senior vice presidents and country heads), 36% is comprised of black males and 28% is comprised of females.
iii) Skills development and procurement. GCR has a formal training programme in place to “fast track” the skills development of previously disadvantaged communities, as well as a formal procurement policy giving preference to BEE suppliers.
GCR's mission statement, in respect of each individual country in which it establishes a presence, is to:
i) Maintain the highest international rating standards with regards to independence, confidentiality and technical expertise.
ii) Provide an information service to investors which is unparalleled in terms of both quality and cost effectiveness.
iii) Pro-actively facilitate the development of local capital markets.
iv) Empower local personnel by way of meaningful profit participation as well as intensive training programmes.
African expansion philosophy
The key to the success of a local rating initiative revolves around the maintenance of absolute independence and the adherence to internationally accepted rating standards. In order to ensure the attainment of internationally accepted best practice ratings criteria right from the outset, GCR will always initially establish a “branch presence” in the country concerned.
In this regard, GCR will provide all the rating resources and expertise and it is important to stress the fact that all ratings will be exclusively managed by GCR, and only GCR's personnel will have access to any information provided during the course of the ratings exercise. Strictest confidentiality is paramount.
However, whenever it establishes a presence in a new market, GCR's policy is to enter into a strategic alliance with a local partner in order to ensure a firm grasp of each individual country's unique local market practices right from the outset.
Principal objective
GCR's stated principal objective has always been to establish itself as "the leading international emerging markets rating agency", and having firmly established a market leadership position in Africa, a major thrust has been to establish a similar position in South America, Eastern Europe, Asia and the Middle East, via a combination of acquisitions, alliances, and organic growth. |
