In January 2024, the communications authority in Zimbabwe warned against using Starlink Internet Services. The Southern African country has less than 100k subscribers on Fibre and Fixed LTE each. At the same time, a significant portion of its citizens rely on mobile Internet, with 10.97 million subscriptions as of 2023 in a country with 16.67 million people.
Between 2018 and 2021, adult literacy rates across African nations exhibited significant disparities. Seychelles and South Africa led with literacy rates of 96% and 95%, respectively, indicating a high proportion of literate adults. Conversely, Chad had the lowest literacy rate during this period.
These statistics underscore the uneven progress in educational attainment across Africa, highlighting the need for targeted interventions to improve literacy in lower-performing nations.
The Global Innovation Index 2024 reveals a striking contrast in innovation performance between countries globally and across Africa. Switzerland leads the global rankings with an impressive score of 67.5, followed by Sweden (64.5) and the USA (62.4), highlighting their sustained investments in research, development, and technological advancement.
In Africa, Mauritius takes the top spot with a score of 30.5, followed closely by Morocco (28.8) and South Africa (28.3). However, even Africa's most innovative nations achieve less than half the score of global leaders, indicating a significant innovation gap.
Nigeria ranks 15th in the African ranking and 113th globally, out of 133 countries, with a score of 17.1.
The 2024 Global Peace Index reveals a decline in peacefulness in 97 countries, the highest since the index began.
Nigeria is among the nations affected by regional conflicts and rising violence. With a peace index score of 2.91, Nigeria is facing increasing challenges.
A deteriorating peace score impacts foreign investment and economic stability. Global economic losses due to violence reached $19.1 trillion in 2023.
Global sales of electric vehicles are projected to hit 13.33 million by 2027, up from 4.6 million in 2021, indicating a significant increase in the shift from petroleum product-powered vehicles to electronic ones.
Kenya received $377.8 million (Sh50 billion) from a consortium of European agencies to build a Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) lane in Nairobi in 2023 which is also the first electric bus lane in the East Africa region. The European Union will provide $48.9 million (Sh6.47 billion) in grants, the European Investment Bank (EIB) and Agence Française de Développement (AFD) will jointly support the project with $256.8 million (Sh33.9 billion), and Kenya will bring $72.0 million (Sh9.5 billion).
Mobile App transfers increased by 174% to ₦53.21 trillion 20 2021, it also increased by 108% to ₦111.12 trillion in 2022. There was also a charge increase in the volume of funds transfers done on mobile apps. The Central Bank of Nigeria, in its figures, separated Mobile App transfers from those of Mobile Money Operators (MMOs).
The value of transactions conducted over Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) in Nigeria in 2021 was ₦5.2 trillion, 73% higher than 2020 figures. The total transaction value dropped by ₦685 billion in 2022, a 13.3% decline. The transaction volume also witnessed a 6% decline.
Nigeria was the seventh most populous nation in the world in 2020, with 206.1 million people. Projected to reach a population of 401.3 million by 2050, Nigeria will rank third after India (1st) and China (2nd). According to Institut national d'études démographiques' projections, Nigeria, Ethiopia, DR Congo, Egypt, Tanzania, and Kenya will be among the world’s top 20 most populous countries by 2050.
