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.
From 1970 through the early 2000s, Egypt’s debt interest payments hovered mostly under $1.5 billion, with fluctuations tied to global oil shocks and debt rescheduling.
Payments remained relatively moderate, ranging between $0.7–$1.0 billion annually.
Following Egypt’s 2016 IMF programme and rising external borrowing, payments jumped dramatically, climbing from $1.53 billion in 2016 to $6.13 billion in 2022.
Interest payments hit an all-time high of $9.47 billion in 2023, underscoring the heavy burden of Egypt’s rapid debt accumulation and exposure to global financing costs.
Russia is the volume leader with 37.3M carats, nearly 1.5× Botswana’s 25.1M carats.
Botswana punches above its weight: though producing 33% fewer carats than Russia, its output value almost matches Russia's due to higher value per carat price.
Eight of the top 10 producers are African (Botswana, Angola, DR Congo, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Sierra Leone, Lesotho).
Low-volume producers like Namibia (2.4M ct → $1.2B) highlight how smaller deposits can yield high-value diamonds.
Egypt and South Africa dominate Africa’s space presence, with 14 and 13 satellites respectively, accounting for nearly one-third of the continent’s total.
Nigeria (7), Algeria (6), and Morocco (5) form the next tier, highlighting North and West Africa as emerging hubs in satellite development.
The majority of other African countries with satellites, including Rwanda, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, Djibouti and Angola, have two satellites each.
Out of 54 African nations, only 18 have any satellites in orbit, underscoring the vast disparity in space investment and technological capacity across the continent.
