Crisis has stifled African boom: ratings agencyThe worldwide economic crisis has stifled sti·fle 1 v. sti·fled, sti·fling, sti·fles v.tr. 1. To interrupt or cut off (the voice, for example). 2. Africa's growth boom and the region faces further threats even as a recovery gets underway in other parts of the world, a top credit rating agency A credit rating agency (CRA) is a company that assigns credit ratings for issuers of certain types of debt obligations. In most cases, these issuers are companies, cities, non-profit organizations, or national governments issuing debt-like securities that can be traded on a warned on Thursday. "Falling commodity prices, remittances
Remittances are transfers of money by foreign workers to their home countries. , foreign direct investment, tourism and the freezing of global capital markets all combined to stifle the recent African boom," Standard & Poor's agency said in a statement. The agency said sub-Saharan Africa faces further obstacles such as increased regulation of financial markets in reaction to a credit crunch Credit Crunch An economic condition whereby investment capital is difficult to obtain. Banks and investors become weary of lending funds to corporations thereby driving up the price of debt products for borrowers. and fears about the stability of African banks following a crisis in Nigeria. Rich economies could also cut aid budgets because of rising debt and vital remittances from African immigrants in wealthier countries in Europe and North America North America, third largest continent (1990 est. pop. 365,000,000), c.9,400,000 sq mi (24,346,000 sq km), the northern of the two continents of the Western Hemisphere. could be reduced as unemployment there continues to rise, it added. Ratings agencies monitor the financial stability of companies and states. 
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