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Mauritius, Morocco, and South Africa lead Africa’s innovation race in 2025
  • Mauritius leads Africa with the highest GII score (32.5), ranking 53rd globally out of 139 countries.
  • North Africa dominates the top 5, with Morocco and Tunisia both strong performers.
  • Sub-Saharan Africa’s bright spots include South Africa, Seychelles, Botswana, and Senegal.
  • Nigeria is 105th globally (21.1), highlighting Africa’s uneven innovation capacity.

Seychelles is Africa’s smallest nation, spanning just 452 km² in land mass
  • Seychelles is the tiniest country in Africa, covering only 452 km², smaller than the size of some global cities.
  • Island nations dominate the smallest group, with Seychelles, Comoros, Mauritius, and Cape Verde all under 5,000 km² each.
  • Gambia is the smallest mainland country, spanning 10,700 km², surrounded almost entirely by Senegal except its Atlantic coast.
  • Only 10 African countries have land areas under 30,000 km², with most being among the continent’s most densely populated.

Cape Verde’s FDI averaged over $68M annually over 34 years, with a record $170M in 2008 and a recent 54% drop from 2023 to 2024
  • Cape Verde attracted no foreign direct investment during the early 1990s, signalling limited investor interest at the time.
  • FDI inflows skyrocketed from $130M in 2006 to an all-time high of $170M in 2008, before stabilising above $100M for most of the 2010s.
  • The country experienced large swings, ranging from a high of $150M (2014) to lows of $50M (2020).
  • Despite recovering to $130M in 2023, inflows dropped sharply to $60M in 2024, the weakest figure in over a decade.

Immigrants make up nearly 1 in 5 people in Gabon, leading African countries with highest migrant populations
  • Gabon leads with 18.7% of its population being immigrants, the highest in Africa.
  • Equatorial Guinea follows with 16.4%, also driven by oil-related labor demand.
  • Djibouti (12.1%) and Libya (12.0%) round out the top four with migrant shares over 10%.
  • South Africa has the highest immigrant population in Southern Africa at 4.8%.
  • Most African nations still record under 5% immigrant share, indicating modest migration levels continent-wide.

Cape Verde has the highest electricity fluctuations, averaging 6056.4 kWh
  • The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Niger, Sierra Leone, and Guinea had the most stable electricity supply from 2000 to 2021.
  • Cape Verde experienced the highest electricity fluctuations, with values ranging from 2981.5 kWh/person to 7692.9 kWh/person.
  • Nigeria, Ghana, Benin, Mali, and Cape Verde had the most unstable electricity supply, with significant year-to-year variations.
  • Nigeria’s electricity supply averaged 2161.7 kWh/person but remained highly inconsistent, fluctuating between 1250.4 and 2707.9 kWh/person.
  • Mali had the lowest electricity availability among unstable nations, averaging 757.4 kWh/person, with a drop as low as 350.7 kWh/person.
  • Countries with stable electricity had lower fluctuations, with The Gambia leading at 957.8 kWh/person and Guinea reaching 1110.8 kWh/person.

North Africa accounts for five of Africa's nine malaria-free countries
As of October 2024, only nine African countries are certified malaria-free: Egypt, Cape Verde, Tunisia, Algeria, Mauritius, Libya, Morocco, Seychelles, and Lesotho. Egypt and Cape Verde are the newest members of this group. Over 40 African countries remain uncertified, with the continent recording 233 million malaria cases in 2022.

Africa’s productivity leaders: Libya gets the most value from each workhour
In 2023, Libya led Africa in labour productivity, generating $29.7 per hour worked. Gabon and Mauritius followed at $25.6 and $25.5. Meanwhile, Nigeria's workers generated $6.8 per hour, and Burundi recorded the lowest at $0.8. Globally, Luxembourg and Ireland topped the list with $146 and $143 per hour, showcasing the efficiency and quality of human capital in these economies.

Only 7 African nations meet the WHO's recommended doctor-to-population ratio
As of 2022, only seven African countries met the WHO's recommended doctor-to-population ratio of 10 doctors per 10,000 people. Cape Verde, Seychelles, Libya, Eswatini, Tunisia, Mauritius, and Algeria are leading the way in healthcare accessibility in Africa. However, the continent still averages only 2.6 doctors per 10,000 people.

Mobile Connectivity Index; Only four African countries exceeded the global average in 2023
A country with strong infrastructure, affordable services, and high digital literacy, enabling everyone to use fast and reliable mobile internet will have a perfect score (100) on the GSMA's Mobile Connectivity Index 2023. South Africa leads in Africa with 69.53. Globally, Singapore is first, with a score of 93.7, setting the benchmark for mobile internet adoption. Only four African countries — South Africa, Mauritius, Seychelles, and Egypt — surpassed the global average score.
Tunisia, Ghana, and Nigeria scored below the global average. The Mobile Connectivity Index analysed measured 173 countries' mobile internet adoption from 2014-2023, normalising indicators to a 0-100 scale for consistency. The factors assessed include infrastructure, affordability, digital literacy, and policy frameworks.
 

16.3% of African-born immigrants living in the US in 2022 were Nigerians
In 2022, the US hosted a diverse African immigrant community, totaling over 2.75 million. ​​ ​Nigerians make up the largest group at 448,405 (16.3%), followed by Ethiopians (10.6%), Egyptians (8.3%), and Ghanaians (7.8%).

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