Among the 113 countries measured in the 2022 Global Food Security Index, Nigeria is ranked 107th overall, putting it deep in the bottom ten globally.
Nigeria has the lowest affordability score globally in the GFSI 2022, scoring only 25.0 in that pillar.
The country performs marginally better in other pillars: its score in “Quality and Safety” is relatively higher (55.6), and “Sustainability and Adaptation” is 53.7. But other pillars like “Availability” (39.5) remain weak.
Globally, a group of countries, including Nigeria, DR Congo, Sudan, Venezuela, Burundi, Madagascar, Sierra Leone, Yemen, Haiti, and Syria, all cluster at low overall GFSI scores (below ~45), reflecting severe challenges.
South Africa sets the benchmark with the fastest average download speed (42.42 Mbps), more than double Morocco’s (19.61 Mbps).
Southern African countries dominate the top half of the ranking, with South Africa, Eswatini, Botswana, Lesotho, and Madagascar all featuring strongly.
Rwanda and Mauritius show East Africa’s progress, with average speeds above 30 Mbps, signalling solid digital infrastructure growth.
Wide disparities persist, with the gap between the highest (South Africa) and lowest (Morocco) averaging over 22 Mbps.
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 led the continent in gold production in 2023, producing 135.11 tonnes, 13.5% of Africa’s total.
Four countries (Ghana, Mali, South Africa, and Burkina Faso) each produced over 95 tonnes, together accounting for 443 tonnes or 44.1% of the continent’s output.
West African countries dominated the rankings, with eight nations from the region among the top 15 producers.
The West African countries in the top 15 combined contributed 525.55 tonnes, more than half (52.3%) of Africa's total gold production.
South Africa ranked third in Africa with 104.29 tonnes.
Burkina Faso ranked fourth while contributing almost 10% of Africa’s gold production.
Rwanda is performing relatively well in terms of governance and rule of law, leading sub-Saharan Africa for the third consecutive year with a score of 0.63 in the 2024 Rule of Law Index. Namibia (0.61) and Mauritius (0.60) closely follow, showcasing relatively stronger legal frameworks.
At the lower end, Nigeria, Congo, and Gabon score 0.40, highlighting persistent governance challenges.
Globally, Denmark tops the list of 142 countries, with a score of 0.90, while Venezuela ranks last at 0.26, emphasising the gap between SSA's highest performers and global leaders. This mix of progress and struggles illustrates the varied state of governance across the region.
Many African countries can't grow apples naturally due to unfavourable climate and the required chilling hours.
Despite this, Africa's share of global apple output has grown from 0.66% (1962) to nearly 4% in 2022, averaging 2.3% over 60+ years. South Africa has been the biggest contributor, but Egypt, Morocco, and Algeria also play key roles, with the top four countries making up 96% of Africa's total production in 2022.
Since 1961, South Africa has led Africa in apple production, consistently topping the charts.
From the early 1960s through the 1990s, Ethiopia's cattle population growth placed it at the forefront of African livestock rearers, holding the top position with millions of cattle.
This leadership continued into the 2000s, reflecting Ethiopia's robust cattle industry on the continent. Sudan managed to take the top position a few times, mostly around the 2000s.
However, Ethiopia quickly reclaimed the top spot. Nigeria's cattle population grew from about 6.03 million in 1961 to 20.9 million in 2022, claiming 6th position in Africa as of 2022.
Africa accounted for one-fourth of the global cattle population as of 2022.
