Nigeria's cocoa production has seen significant fluctuations between 1990 and 2022. While there have been periods of growth, such as the increase from 244k tonnes in 1990 to 485k tonnes in 2006, there have also been notable declines. Production hit a low of 203k tonnes in 1995 and faced other dips. Here is the quantity of cocoa produced in Nigeria since 1990.
Cocoa beans are a vital commodity for many countries, driving their economies and supporting livelihoods. Over the years, cocoa production has seen significant fluctuations across different countries.
The world's cocoa-producing countries produced 104.2 million tonnes of cocoa beans between 2000 and 2022, enough to fill about 2.084 billion 50kg bags. Côte d'Ivoire maintains its dominance, accounting for 35.3% of global production in the 23 years under review, with Ghana (16.5%), Indonesia (15.4%), and Nigeria (7.7%) completing the top four.
These are the top ten countries in the period.
Since 2005, nationals from China, India, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Pakistan, and Nigeria have ranked among the top three recipients of UK study visas. China led the list from 2010 to 2020. In 19 years, over 1.46 million Chinese nationals (22.9% of the total) received study visas. India followed with 926.9k and Nigeria — which first entered the top three in 2020 — with 436.9k.
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.
Nigeria's foreign portfolio investment surged by 570% in Q1 2024, hitting $2.1 billion and making up 61% of total capital imports. This boost ends a 15-quarter slump, surpassing Q4 2019‘s levels.
Overall capital imports for Q1 2024 reached $3.4 billion, with $119.2 million from foreign direct investments and $1.2 billion from other investments.
Surfshark's data reveals that 17.2b online accounts have been compromised globally since 2004, with African countries accounting for 250.7m (1.45%).
South Sudan has the highest number of breached online accounts in Africa, with over 89 million compromised accounts.
South Africa and Egypt follow with 0.2% and 0.13% of the global figure, respectively. Nigeria ranks fourth with 19.3 million breaches.
Although Africa's share of global breaches is relatively low, the potential harm is significant. Recently, unauthorised websites reportedly sold Nigerians' data, including NIN, BVN, and driver's licenses, for as little as ₦100.
These breaches pose serious privacy, financial security, and national safety risks, calling our attention to the urgent need for robust data protection measures.
In 2023, the UK issued nearly 350k skilled health and care visas, representing 57% of the total work visas (616k) issued, with Indian and Nigerian nationals receiving a combined 50% of the visas issued. Nigeria received 82.8k, approximately 13% of the total work visas issued.
The number of study and work visa applications from Nigeria to the UK has significantly increased, particularly following the COVID-19 pandemic. Although study visa applications dropped by 24% in 2023, they peaked at 124.8k in 2022.
Work visa applications reached a high of 92.7k in 2023, increasing three consecutive years from 2021.
In 2023, Nigeria emerged as the second-largest source of UK work visa applications, with 92.7k applications, trailing only India (171.8k). This places Nigeria ahead of other countries like the Philippines (29.5k), Ghana (36.2k), Pakistan (48.4k), and Zimbabwe (50.3k).
Nigeria, Zimbabwe, and Ghana were the top African countries seeking work in the UK in 2023.
Senegal's cancellation of its experiment with an eCFA in 2016 makes Nigeria's eNaira the only active Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) in Africa. Half of the countries in Africa are currently not doing anything about CBDC, while a larger share of the other half is currently in the research phase.
