Bite-sized Insights about
 
Providing you with data-based insights about things happening around you.
Popular Insights
  • President Tinubu was recently elected to take over from President Umaro Embaló of Guinea-Bissau as ECOWAS Chairman, making him the 9th from Nigeria. Since its inception, new chairmen have emerged 36 times, with Nigeria producing the most chairmen. Four countries in the ECOWAS region have collectively produced more than half of the chairmen since the organisation's founding, with each contributing multiple chairmen. Cape Verde is the only member country yet to produce a chairman.

    See more
    MTN Nigeria’s revenue and profit after tax over the years

    MTN Nigeria recorded its first loss in 2023 because of a loss of forex. The naira recorded a massive loss to the US dollar in the second half of 2023, with a 95% drop. The company's revenue jumped from ₦1.04 trillion in 2018 to ₦2.47 trillion. While its profit after tax grew alongside the revenue from 2018 to 2022, it dropped from ₦349b to a ₦137b loss in 2023.

    See more
  • A Trend of Adult literacy rates of African countries

    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.

    See more

    Africa's sanitation crisis is alarming, with 17 of the top 20 countries having the highest open defecation rates.

    Eritrea (67%), Niger (65%), and Chad (63%) lead, putting millions at risk of disease.

    Even Nigeria, the most populous African country, has 18% of its population practising it.

    See more
  • 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.

    See more

    The FAAC's revenue distribution from 2017 to August 2023 highlights the dominance of Delta, Akwa Ibom, Rivers, and Bayelsa states in allocations. Despite Lagos' economic prominence, it ranked fifth. Here is the distribution of revenue among states between 2017 and August 2023.

    See more

  • Africa's producers of natural rubber in 2022
    Côte d'Ivoire has maintained its title of Africa's largest producer of natural rubber, increasing production by an average of 13% annually. Nigeria was Africa's largest producer of natural rubber in the early 90s until Côte d'Ivoire took the top spot in 1999. As of 2022, its production capacity was 8.6x more than Nigeria's. In 2022, Côte d'Ivoire produced 1.286 million tonnes of natural rubber; Nigeria and Ghana followed with 149.4 thousand tonnes and 117 thousand tonnes, respectively.
    See more
  • Only 10% of Nigerians earn above ₦100,000, according to the Nigerian Financial Services Market Report. This aligns with most reports about Nigeria, and it's in sharp contrast to the narratives online.
    See more
  • A Trend of Adult literacy rates of African countries

    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.

    See more

Other Insights
Nigeria's Federal Account Allocation Committee shared ₦1.85 trillion among 36 states between January and June 2023. Here is the revenue allocation by geopolitical zone in H1 2023.
See more

In 2022, the US exported $631 million worth of agricultural produce to Nigeria, with wheat the biggest export. It accounted for 76% of the exports followed by industrial ethanol (9.3%).

See more
Nigeria's debt burden has been a growing concern, with data revealing that for every $1 billion external loan repaid in the past decade, approximately $3 billion was borrowed. Here, we look at how the country has managed its external debt in the past ten years.
See more
African countries dominated the list of top diamond producers, with 11 of them among the top 14 in 2022. Russia tops the list with a production of 41.9 million carats, followed by Botswana, which produced 24.5 million carats. Here are the top diamond-producing countries in 2022.
See more
South Africa's broadband internet is the most affordable among the 25 African countries surveyed. Subscribers would work 1 hour 43 minutes to afford the country’s cheapest broadband internet.
See more
Surfshark's 2023 Digital Quality of Life (DQL) Index surveyed Internet affordability and four other key factors influencing the digital well-being of 121 countries, including 25 from Africa. Per the finding, Angola leads Africa in terms of Internet affordability in 2023.
See more
Data from the Boston University Global Development Policy Center shows that Chinese creditors have loaned African countries $167 billion since 2000, with Angola receiving 27% ($45 billion) of the amount. Ethiopia, Kenya, Zambia, and Egypt complete the top five.
See more
In the past seven years, 9mobile has experienced a consistent decline in its Internet subscriber base, with an average loss of 134k subscribers monthly since June 2016. This decline began after it reached 17.2 million subscribers — its highest ever — in April 2016. As of July 2023, 9mobile's Internet subscriber count was 3.9m. MTN had the largest share (68.1m) of Nigeria's 159m Internet subscribers as of July 2023. Glo and Airtel had almost equal shares, with 43.9m and 42.9m subscribers, respectively.
See more
Nigeria repaid an average of $368m in external debt every year between 2008 and 2017. In 2018, the payments increased by 217% to $1.47b from $464m in 2017, then dropped by 9.4% in 2019, and has since been on the rise. Here are Nigeria's external debt repayments since 2008.
See more

In H1 2023, Nigeria's total trade was ₦24.79 trillion — ₦13.5 trillion worth of exports and ₦11.29 trillion imports. Here are Nigeria’s trading partners by region in H1 2023.

See more
In June 2023, Nigeria exported goods worth ₦3.026 trillion and imported goods worth ₦1.285 trillion, resulting in a trade surplus of ₦1.74 trillion. This came after a trade deficit of ₦653 billion in May 2023. Here is Nigeria's trade balance since July 2022.
See more

Nigeria added ₦23.9 trillion to the debt it owes creditors within the country as of Q2 2023, its external debt on the other hand increased by 1.14% from $42.7 billion to $43.2 billion.

See more
1 109 110 111 112 113 117
  • Nigeria leads Africa in total arable land with 36,872,000 hectares, more than twice that of Niger, the second-ranking country.
  • Niger ranks second with 17,700,000 hectares.
  • The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) ranks third with 13,680,000 hectares, revealing the role of Central Africa in agricultural land availability.
  • Other notable countries include Chad (5.3M hectares), Zambia (3.8M hectares), and Guinea (3.1M hectares).
  • The countries at the bottom of the top ten list, such as Congo (550,000 hectares), Liberia (500,000 hectares), and Mauritania (450,000 hectares), have relatively limited arable land compared to leading nations.
Read more
  • The number of artists earning over $5,000 in royalties from Spotify has risen from 36,400 in 2017 to 110,500 in 2024, a 205% increase.
  • The growth trend accelerated significantly after 2020, crossing 80,000 artists by 2021.
  • Between 2017 and 2019, the growth rate was slower, rising from 36,400 to 53,700 artists in two years.
  • The most significant jumps happened between 2019-2021, as numbers surged from 53,700 to 81,700 artists.
  • The consistent rise suggests increased monetisation opportunities for independent and mainstream artists on Spotify.
Read more
  • Avatar remains the highest-grossing movie globally, earning $2.92 billion.
  • Titanic, released in 1997, is still among the top-grossing films with $2.22 billion, showing the lasting appeal of classics.
  • Recent films like Avatar: The Way of Water ($2.32 billion) and Spider-Man: No Way Home ($1.92 billion) prove that sequels and superhero films continue to drive massive revenues.
  • Disney properties dominate the list, with multiple Marvel, Star Wars, and animated films ranking among the top earners.
Read more
  • Dangote first announced the refinery in 2013 with a $9 billion plan, securing $3.3 billion in funding.
  • The estimated cost grew to $15 billion in 2017, as planned refining capacity increased to 650,000 barrels per day.
  • By 2023, the refinery was finally commissioned, after its total cost surged past $20 billion.
  • In December 2023, the first crude supply of 1 million barrels arrived, marking the start of operations.
  • By 2024, the refinery began producing diesel and jet fuel, with 6 million barrels received for processing.
Read more
Key takeaways:
  • In 2024, BUA Foods hit new heights, with gross profit for Q4 surpassing ₦189 billion.
  • A remarkable surge occurred in 2024, with quarterly gross profits regularly exceeding ₦100 billion.
  • The fourth quarter of 2024 marked a significant peak, illustrating a 200% increase from Q4 2023.
  • BUA Foods' gross profit dramatically climbed from approximately ₦25 billion in 2021 to nearly ₦190 billion in Q4 2024.
Read more
Share of people living in Africa by region as of January 2025
  • Eastern Africa is the most populous region, making up 33.09% of Africa’s total population, with over 507 million people.
  • Together, Eastern and Western Africa house over 63% of Africa’s total population, indicating where much of the continent’s human capital and economic activity will be concentrated.
  • Northern Africa has 274.1 million people (17.89%), while Central Africa has 216.3 million (14.11%), placing them in the mid-range of Africa’s population distribution.
  • Southern Africa is by far the least populous region, contributing just 4.8% (73.6 million people) to Africa’s 1.5 billion total.
  • The population contrast across regions highlights key differences in urbanisation, economic opportunities, and development needs.
  • Understanding Africa’s population distribution is crucial for businesses, policymakers, and investors, as future economic growth, consumer markets, and labour forces will be heavily influenced by these demographic trends.
Read more
1 109 110 111 112 113 233

Can’t find what you’re looking for? Please fill the form below
Contact Form Demo
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