Choosing credit bureaus in Africa, country by country

You already know the lending product you want to offer in the new country. The part still unsettled is the information your team will have when the first applications arrive. Credit bureaus have sent their decks, and each says it covers the market. You can compare prices quickly, but the reports will feed into the decisions that determine who gets approved and on what terms. If you are adding a product in a country where you already lend, the same question sits in front of you: whether the bureau you use now fits the new lending decision. The launch is close enough for this to be a real choice.

Map the credit information market in each country

When every provider says it covers the country, price per report looks like the cleanest way to choose. But the number of bureaus, the role of the central bank and the way the market is organised differ from country to country. Start with the country, not the price on a deck. A credit bureau is one kind of credit information source, not the whole market.

Uganda has four licensed bureaus, and Ghana has three. Creditinfo West Africa operates in eight WAEMU states. Creditinfo Central Africa is licensed across six CEMAC states, with launches taking place country by country. Elsewhere, the central bank operates a system of credit records, or maintains a credit register alongside private bureaus.

The country examples change the choice before you compare a single price. Tunisia’s private licence was withdrawn in March 2026, and the central bank runs an information register. In Algeria, the central bank runs the register identified in the market. A provider’s claim to cover a country does not tell you whether it is licensed there, whether it is operating, or whether you need to use a central bank system as well.

Check the rules before deciding how many bureaus to use

Your regulator’s current list tells you which bureau arrangements to consider. The rules for your licence type tell you which reports you must obtain and whether consent comes first. Those are separate checks.

If you are supervised by the CBN in Nigeria, a summary of a 2010 CBN circular says you need reports from at least two bureaus before granting a facility. In Ghana, a financial institution must search one or more bureau databases before deciding whether to grant or refuse credit. If you are a credit institution or SFD supervised by the BCEAO or Commission Bancaire in a WAEMU state, you must obtain a report before granting credit and have the client’s prior, free and written consent.

Egypt has a different structure. I-Score is the bureau named for the market, and inquiry through a credit-inquiry company is a licensing condition for consumer finance. The I-Score credit bureau in Egypt is part of that country-specific picture.

In the CEMAC states, Creditinfo Central Africa is rolling out country by country. Credit institutions, microfinance institutions and payment institutions supervised by COBAC or BEAC must use bureau information in every credit analysis. Reporting by those institutions does not require prior client consent.

Do not assume one bureau contract is enough in each country. In some markets, the law specifies how many credit reports you must obtain or requires a bureau check before you decide.

Identify which bureau serves your lending segment

The regulator’s current list shows which bureaus are licensed. Reports from each bureau on your own applicants show which gives you the most useful picture of them.

Ghana makes the difference visible. In 2025, 97% of bank enquiries went to XDS, while about 80% of enquiries from microfinance institutions went to Dun & Bradstreet. The useful bureau depended on your lending segment. If you choose from a country-wide coverage claim alone, you miss the question that matters to your book: which lenders serving your applicants submit data to each bureau?

Ask each bureau which lenders serving the same kinds of applicants as yours report to it, and which facilities they submit. In Ghana in 2025, 97% of bank enquiries went to XDS, while about 80% of microfinance institution enquiries went to Dun & Bradstreet. Those figures show which bureaus banks and microfinance institutions queried in Ghana, not which reports will tell you about your applicants. Your own applicants’ bureau reports must show whether the information in them changes your lending decisions.

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Test the alternatives on the same applicants

Compare each bureau’s reports on the same applicants and over the same period. A bureau’s deck or Ghana’s enquiry figures cannot tell you whether adding its reports would change enough decisions on your own applicants to justify the cost.

Compare four call patterns: bureau A alone, bureau B alone, bureau B only when A returns no hit, and both bureaus for every applicant. For each pattern, count the applicants found, identify the good and bad applicants flagged, and record the report cost, the losses avoided by declining bad applicants, and the profit from good applicants you serve.

Then compare, for each arrangement, the losses avoided by declining bad applicants, the potential profit lost when a good applicant is wrongly declined, and the price of the reports. An additional bad applicant correctly declined can reduce losses. A good applicant wrongly declined costs potential profit. Each additional report adds to what you pay. Calling bureau B only when bureau A returns no hit costs less than calling both bureaus for every applicant, but it is worth doing only if the reports lead you to change enough credit decisions to cover their cost.

Use your own outcomes and lending economics to reach the result. The data source waterfall tool compares the four arrangements using those measures. Decisimo’s data source documentation describes calls to REST or SOAP services, and a failed call can branch in the decision flow.

Count the duties that come with each bureau relationship

The bureau you choose may need your loan data as well as provide credit reports. Before signing, list what you must send, when you must send it, and what you must tell or give applicants. Those deadlines, submissions and applicant notices affect the cost of running the bureau arrangement.

• Reporting: Check when you must send data and whether you must send it to every licensed bureau. In Kenya, CIS ValiData can send one set of data to all three bureaus. Ugandan banks and Namibian microlenders must send data to all licensed bureaus.
• Consent: Check whether you need the borrower’s consent before requesting a report and what form it must take. In WAEMU, obtain the client’s prior, free, written consent. In Tanzania, obtain written consent. In Rwanda, include a consent clause in the loan contract.
• Declined applicants: Check whether you must tell the applicant before an adverse decision, give them a copy of the report or provide a free report after rejection. WAEMU, Uganda and Rwanda each require one or more of these actions.
• Reporting deadlines: Check when you must send new or updated credit details to the bureau or register. Ghana requires new facilities to be reported within 72 hours. Mozambique’s central register requires reports within 24 hours.

Use the rule that applies to your country and licence type. A contract’s report price is only one part of what the relationship costs to operate.

Make the choice on your book and check it again at renewal

Put the bureau decks beside the rules for your country and licence type, and your test results: applicants found, good and bad applicants flagged, report costs, losses avoided and profit from good applicants served. The price per report is easy to compare, but your choice of bureau arrangement affects which applicants you can assess, which good applicants you serve and the losses from bad loans in your portfolio. Licences can also change after you sign, as Tunisia’s 2026 withdrawal shows. Before the first loan and again before renewal, follow these checks:

1. Start with the regulator’s current list and write down each licensed bureau. Check whether a central bank register runs alongside them or instead.
2. Read the rules for your licence type. Write down how many bureau reports you must request before a decision and whether you need consent before requesting them.
3. Ask which lenders serving borrowers like yours send information to each bureau, and which credit facilities they report.
4. Test bureau A alone, bureau B alone, bureau B only when A returns no hit, and both bureaus for each applicant, using the same applicants and period. Record how many applicants each option finds, which good and bad applicants each bureau flags, the price of each report, the losses avoided by declining bad applicants, and the profit from good applicants you serve.
5. Compare the net value of the arrangements. Choose the required checks first, then decide whether an additional bureau, including one called only after a no-hit, adds enough value to justify its cost.
6. For each bureau relationship, note when you must send new or updated information and which bureaus must receive it. Record what consent you need before a query, and whether you must notify an applicant before declining them, give them a copy of the report, or provide a free report after rejection.
7. Check the regulator’s current list again before renewing the bureau arrangements.

Questions about African credit bureaus

How many credit bureaus are there in Kenya?

Three: TransUnion, Metropol and Creditinfo.

Which credit bureaus are licensed in Nigeria?

Current company materials and press sources name CRC Credit Bureau, FirstCentral Credit Bureau and CreditRegistry. If you are supervised by the CBN, a summary of its circular says you need reports from at least two bureaus before granting a facility.

Is a credit bureau check mandatory before lending in Ghana?

Yes. A financial institution must look up an applicant in one or more bureau databases before granting or refusing credit.

Which credit bureau covers the WAEMU countries?

Creditinfo West Africa, formerly Creditinfo VoLo, operates across Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo.

Which credit bureau covers the CEMAC countries?

Creditinfo Central Africa is licensed across the six CEMAC states, and its service launches country by country.

Which credit bureaus operate in Uganda?

Creditinfo Uganda, Metropol, GnuGrid and Armada. Financial institutions, microfinance deposit-taking institutions and registered societies must look up every credit applicant in a bureau's records.

Does Tunisia have a private credit bureau?

No private credit bureau is at work in Tunisia. The BCT withdrew MITIGAN CIB’s licence in March 2026 because the company had not started work by the deadline. The company says the withdrawal was not a penalty and that it may apply again. Borrowers can consult the BCT’s central information register remotely.

Which credit bureaus are there in South Africa?

The NCR register lists 55 credit bureau registrants, including TransUnion Credit Bureau, Experian South Africa, XDS, Consumer Profile Bureau and VeriCred Credit Bureau. The register includes full consumer bureaus and specialist registrants.

Does every African country have a private credit bureau?

Some countries have a credit bureau or register run by the central bank, while other countries have private bureaus. Check the regulator’s current list and register for the country where you plan to lend.

Put these checks into a decision flow

Create rules for credit, fraud or collections, then run them on live decisions.

Start free See pricing