Bite-sized Insights about
 
Providing you with data-based insights about things happening around you.
Search results for
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.

Togo emerges as Nigeria’s largest African trading partner in Q2 2025
  • Togo leads on both sides of trade, supplying ₦211.99B in imports and receiving ₦811.97B in exports, making it Nigeria’s strongest African partner by value.
  • South Africa ranks second, with imports of ₦115.15B and exports of ₦473.65B, reflecting deep bilateral trade ties.
  • Côte d’Ivoire also features prominently, sending ₦106.15B worth of goods to Nigeria while importing ₦408.97B, showing balanced engagement.
  • West Africa dominates Nigeria’s intra-African trade, with Togo, Côte d’Ivoire, and Ghana collectively accounting for a significant share of regional exports.

Africa secured just 1.5% of the US Skilled Worker (H-1B) Visas in 2024 — Nigeria tops the list
  • Nigeria ranked first in Africa, with 880 H-1B visas issued in FY 2024, far ahead of Ghana (499) and Egypt (364).
  • East and Southern Africa featured prominently, with Kenya (320), South Africa (208), and Zimbabwe (132) among the top 10.
  • North African representation was modest, with Morocco (78) and Egypt (364) being the only countries in the region on the list.
  • Despite these numbers, Africa’s collective total is marginal globally, especially compared to India’s ~150,000 issuances and China’s large volumes.
  • President Donald Trump’s $100,000 fee for new U.S. H-1B skilled worker visas will have limited impact on Africa, which has historically received only a small fraction of these visas.

Ghanaian applicants secured 499 H-1B Visas in FY 2024, with April 2024 as the peak month
  • Ghana secured 499 H-1B visa approvals in FY 2024, averaging about 42 per month.
  • April 2024 was the highest month with 80 visas, while September 2024 dropped sharply to just 16.
  • Visa issuances were relatively steady until early 2024, before a mid-year surge and late-year decline.
  • Ghana ranks second in Africa for H-1B visas, behind Nigeria, reflecting its growing pool of skilled professionals abroad.

South Africa led Africa’s bond market with $328.8 billion [in] volume and nearly 3,000 issuances
  • South Africa is the clear leader, recording a bond market volume of $328.8 billion and 2,952 issuances, far ahead of all other African economies.
  • Egypt and Morocco follow as strong contenders with bond volumes of $188.8 billion and $116.4 billion, respectively, though both trail South Africa by wide margins.
  • Côte d’Ivoire, Algeria, and Nigeria represent the mid-tier, each exceeding $65 billion, showing notable regional financial activity.
  • Smaller markets like Tunisia and Angola feature relatively lower volumes ($16.9 billion and $28.4 billion) but maintain significant issuance activity.

South Africa controlled nearly 70% of Africa's $63.6 billion insurance market as of 2023; Nigeria trailed with only 1.7%
  • South Africa led the continent with a massive 68.2% of Africa’s insurance market, far ahead of all others combined.
  • Morocco (8.7%), Egypt (4.0%), and Kenya (3.6%) were the next largest.
  • Major economies, such as Nigeria (1.7%) and Algeria (1.9%), played surprisingly small roles in insurance penetration.
  • “Others” refers to the rest of Africa, which held just 6.4%, indicating a heavy concentration in a few markets.

8 of 11 Best Movie awards at the AMVCA since inception have gone to Nigerian films
  • Between 2013 and 2025, Nigeria has dominated the Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards (AMVCA), winning 8 out of 11 awards for Best Overall Movie.
  • Kenya, South Africa, and Ghana have each won the top prize once, highlighting Nigeria’s influence on African cinema.
  • This trend reflects both the scale and consistency of Nigeria’s film industry, Nollywood, which has outpaced its regional peers in terms of production volume, distribution, and local audience engagement.
  • While other countries show occasional excellence, Nigeria remains the cultural and commercial centre of African filmmaking.

Mauritius is the most peaceful African country among 47 countries ranked in 2025, with a score of 1.586
  • Mauritius leads Africa’s Peace Index with the lowest (best) score of 1.586, showing its stability and strong governance.
  • Southern Africa is well represented in the rankings with Mauritius, Botswana, Namibia, Madagascar, and Zambia in the top 10.
  • West Africa also performs strongly, represented by The Gambia, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Senegal, and Liberia.
  • The scores are tightly clustered (1.586–1.939), showing that Africa’s most peaceful states are relatively close in performance despite regional differences.

Ghana’s debt interest fell to $780 million in 2023 after peaking at a record $1.49 billion in 2022
  • Ghana’s debt interest payments remained below $200 million for nearly three decades, reflecting relatively low external borrowing.
  • From 2000 to 2010, payments rose moderately, reaching $300 million by 2010 as Ghana’s borrowing needs expanded.
  • Interest payments accelerated sharply, surpassing $1 billion in 2017 and peaking at $1.49 billion in 2022.
  • After years of growth, payments plunged to $780 million in 2023, suggesting debt restructuring, payment relief, or reduced new borrowing.

Samsung leads Ghana’s smartphone market with 26.4% share, followed by Tecno (17.7%) and Apple (17.4%)
  • Samsung dominates with 26.42% of Ghana’s smartphone market, making it the clear leader.
  • Tecno (17.7%) and Apple (17.4%) are in a tight race for second place, separated by just 0.3 percentage points.
  • Infinix (10.5%) and Itel (5.2%) highlight the strong presence of Transsion Holdings brands in Ghana.
  • Global giants like Huawei (6.8%) and Xiaomi (2.5%) lag behind, showing Ghana’s preference for budget-friendly African-focused brands.

1 2 3 8

Can’t find what you’re looking for? Please fill the form below
Contact Form Demo
SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER
Get periodic updates about the African startup space, access to our reports, among others.
Subscribe Here
Subscription Form

A product of Techpoint Africa. All rights reserved