Africa accounts for a small fraction of popes in the history of the papacy as of 2024, with only 3
Key takeaways:
Italy alone accounts for 217 popes, dominating papal history more than any other region or country.
France, the second-most represented, has had only 16 popes, which is fewer than one-tenth of Italy's total.
Germany and Syria have had 6 and 5 popes respectively, reflecting early and medieval Church dynamics.
Africa has had just 3 popes.
Modern nations like Argentina, Poland, and the Netherlands have produced only 1 pope each.
Israel (3), Greece (4), and Turkey (2) are notable for their ancient Christian histories but limited papal presence in modern times.
The history of the papacy has been overwhelmingly dominated by one nation—Italy, which has produced a staggering 217 popes as of 2024. That’s more than all other countries combined, reflecting the historical and geographical centrality of Italy to the Roman Catholic Church.
Beyond Italy, the diversity thins quickly. France, often considered a historical Catholic stronghold, has produced just 16 popes, while Germany follows with 6. Countries like Syria, Greece, and Israel, which played significant roles in early Christianity, have contributed only a few popes each. Notably, Africa accounts for just 3 popes in the entire history of the papacy.
Mercado Libre leads with $8.5B, making it Baillie Gifford’s most valuable tech holding after its Jumia exit.
Amazon ($6.2B) and NVIDIA ($6.8B) remain major anchors in the portfolio, highlighting confidence in cloud, AI, and e-commerce.
The "Others" category holds the largest share ($75B), showing how Baillie Gifford’s exposure is spread widely beyond the major names.
Even post-Jumia, the portfolio is deeply rooted in innovation, with stakes in Spotify, Cloudflare, Moderna, and Shopify; covering audio streaming, cybersecurity, biotech, and e-commerce platforms.
Kenya recorded the highest ivory seizure among the top 10 countries, with 130,432 kg confiscated over the 34-year period.
China and Hong Kong follow closely, with 106,069 kg and 75,707 kg seized, respectively, showing their long standing roles as critical players in the global ivory network.
Vietnam and Singapore, both located in Southeast Asia, had substantial seizure records; 71,256 kg and 29,882 kg, indicating persistent trafficking through the region.
Nigeria leads West Africa in ivory confiscations within the top 10, with 23,031 kg, signalling its importance as a key node in the transit chain.
All countries listed in the top 10 are either source, transit, or destination points in the global ivory supply chain, reflecting how widespread and interconnected the illegal trade remains.
Somalia has the lowest AIDI score in Africa at 7.10, reflecting extremely poor infrastructure across all sectors.
South Sudan (7.38) and Niger (8.12) rank slightly higher, showing similarly weak infrastructure profiles.
Ethiopia (13.09) and the Central African Republic (13.23), though more advanced than others on the list, still score under 15.
Nigeria's AIDI score of 25.70, while not high by global standards, is more than three times higher than Somalia’s, indicating major disparities in infrastructure across the continent.
