Over the past 30 years, Kenya has topped global elephant ivory seizures. Nigeria ranks 7th with 23,031 kg confiscated

Key takeaways

  • 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.

From 1990 to 2024, elephant ivory seizures across these top countries paint a revealing picture of the global illegal ivory network. Kenya, the country with the highest recorded confiscations, has long been a hotspot, due both to its proximity to major elephant populations and to strong customs activity. Other African countries like Uganda, Mozambique, and Nigeria also appear prominently on the list, highlighting the region’s ongoing struggle with poaching and illegal transport.

On the other side of the trade, countries like China, Vietnam, and Hong Kong have historically been identified as major destinations or key transit points. Their high seizure numbers align with long established trafficking patterns. Singapore and Malaysia, known for their international shipping hubs, further reflect how ivory often moves through legal trade routes to mask illicit activity.

Source:

World Population Review

Period:

1990 - 2024
HTML code to embed chart
Want a bespoke report?
Reach out
Tags
Related Insights

Papua New Guinea tops the world in linguistic diversity, with 843 living languages in 2025
  • Papua New Guinea remains unmatched: With 843 living languages, the Pacific nation continues to hold the title of the world’s most linguistically diverse country.
  • Nigeria tops Africa: Hosting 530 living languages, Nigeria ranks third globally and stands as Africa’s richest linguistic hub.
  • Indonesia (709) and India (454) are also in the top five, showcasing the dense cultural mosaic across Asia.
  • Even large, developed countries like the U.S. (239), Australia (225), and Brazil (222) make the list, proving that language diversity transcends geography and development.

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.

English language holds global lead with 1.5 billion speakers as Mandarin strengthens with 1.2 billion
  • English dominates globally with 1.5 billion speakers, nearly 300 million more than Mandarin Chinese.
  • Asian languages are highly represented, with Mandarin, Hindi, Arabic, Bengali, Indonesian, Urdu, Japanese, Marathi, Vietnamese, Telugu, and Turkish making up over half of the top 20.
  • Spanish and French stand out as major global languages, reflecting both native speakers and strong international adoption. African languages are emerging on the global stage, with Nigerian Pidgin (120.7M) and Hausa (94.4M) among the top 20.
  • The gap between top and bottom languages in the ranking is wide. English has over 15 times more speakers than Turkish, which closes the top 20 list.

São Tomé & Príncipe’s dobra ranks as Africa’s weakest currency against the US dollar as of July 2025
  • São Tomé & Príncipe’s dobra is the weakest African currency, trading at over 22,000 per US dollar.
  • Sierra Leone and Guinea follow closely, highlighting persistent monetary pressures in West Africa.
  • Nigeria’s naira, despite recent reforms, ranks 9th weakest, reflecting ongoing exchange rate volatility.
  • East African currencies such as the Ugandan shilling, Tanzanian shilling, and Rwandan franc also appear, showing regional vulnerability.

Egypt’s external debt interest payments hit a record $9.47 billion in 2023 after six-fold rise since 2016
  • 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.

Algeria leads Africa’s land mass rankings at 2.4 million km², more than 2× the size of Nigeria (924k km²)
  • Algeria is Africa’s largest country, covering 2.4 million km², slightly bigger than the Democratic Republic of Congo (2.3 million km²).
  • Sudan (1.9 million km²) and Libya (1.8 million km²) complete the top four, showing that North Africa dominates the list of largest territories.
  • Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, has a landmass of 923,800 km², placing it 14th in size, much smaller than its population ranking.
  • The smallest among the top 20 listed is South Sudan, with 619,700 km², less than one-third the size of Algeria.

POPULAR TOPICS
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