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  • In Q4 2023, Spectranet maintained its top position as Nigeria's biggest internet service provider with nearly 114k active subscribers, holding 43% of the market share. FiberOne followed with 10% of the market.

    Starlink increased its subscriber base by 113% to claim the 3rd position with 9% of the market.

    Here are Nigeria's top internet service providers by active subscribers in Q4 2023.

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    Nigeria collected nearly ₦5 trillion income tax from companies in 2023. The amount collected in 2023 is 3.5x the collections in 2015 and 73% more than in 2022. Here are Nigeria's company income tax collections since 2015.

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  • 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.

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    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.

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  • 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.

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    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.

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  • Over the past ten years, there has been a rising trend of fraud and forgery cases in Nigerian banks. Although there was an 88% increase in reported cases in 2021, there was a 27% decrease in 2022, resulting in a 221% increase in financial losses of ₦9.5 billion.
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  • 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.
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  • 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
  • The financial services sector attracted the largest share of funding at $806.3m, accounting for more than 40% of total startup investment.
  • Renewable energy secured $377.1m, showing strong investor appetite for sustainable solutions in Africa.
  • Telecommunications raised $316.0m, while mobility & logistics brought in $222.8m, highlighting infrastructure-driven growth.
  • Electric vehicles ($87.9m), e-commerce ($50.3m), and crypto/blockchain ($35.3m) attracted meaningful investments, signalling diversification beyond traditional sectors.
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  • ₦7.88 trillion worth of manufactured goods made up 51.6% of imports, underscoring Nigeria’s dependence on foreign industrial products.
  • Other petroleum oil products accounted for ₦2.79 trillion (18.2%) of imports, showing continued reliance on external energy supplies despite Nigeria’s oil-rich status.
  • ₦1.72 trillion in raw material imports (11.3%) highlights the gap in local processing capacity.
  • Solid minerals (₦70.9 bn, 0.46%) and energy goods (₦150 mn, almost 0%) show almost no role in imports.
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  • Total trade in Q2 2025 was valued at ₦38.04tn.
  • Imports accounted for ₦15.29tn, led by manufactured goods and petroleum products.
  • Exports reached ₦22.75tn, boosted mainly by crude oil.
  • The trade gap favoured Nigeria with a surplus of ₦7.46tn.
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  • Osun’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) grew from ₦11.78b in 2015 to ₦54.70b in 2024, marking a 364% increase.
  • The state maintained steady annual growth after 2017, with notable acceleration from 2020 onward.
  • The single biggest leap occurred between 2023 and 2024, with revenue nearly doubling from ₦27.72b to ₦54.70b.
  • The upward trend reflects improved tax collection, diversification of revenue sources, and stronger fiscal policies.
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  • 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.
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  • Comoros stands out with a corporate tax rate of 50%, the highest on the continent and far above the regional norm.
  • Chad and Equatorial Guinea follow at 35%, while Morocco and Cameroon set rates at 33%.
  • A broad cluster of 17 African countries, including Nigeria, Ethiopia, Kenya, and South Sudan, hold steady at the 30% rate.
  • All other African economies not listed apply corporate tax rates below 30%.
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  • South Africa sets the benchmark with the fastest average download speed (42.42 Mbps), more than double Morocco’s (19.61 Mbps).
  • Southern African countries dominate the top half of the ranking, with South Africa, Eswatini, Botswana, Lesotho, and Madagascar all featuring strongly.
  • Rwanda and Mauritius show East Africa’s progress, with average speeds above 30 Mbps, signalling solid digital infrastructure growth.
  • Wide disparities persist, with the gap between the highest (South Africa) and lowest (Morocco) averaging over 22 Mbps.
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  • Sudan sits at the bottom with an average speed of 4.02 mbps, far below the continental average.
  • The Central African Republic follows closely at 4.08 mbps, making Central Africa a weak spot for digital connectivity.
  • Somalia, despite topping the list, averaged only 6.64 mbps, showing even the “fastest among the slowest” remains well behind global standards.
  • The concentration of slow speeds in East and Central Africa points to persistent infrastructure and investment gaps.
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  • South Africa is the clear leader, recording a bond market volume of $328.8 billion and 2,952 issuances, far ahead of all other African economies.
  • Egypt and Morocco follow as strong contenders with bond volumes of $188.8 billion and $116.4 billion, respectively, though both trail South Africa by wide margins.
  • Côte d’Ivoire, Algeria, and Nigeria represent the mid-tier, each exceeding $65 billion, showing notable regional financial activity.
  • Smaller markets like Tunisia and Angola feature relatively lower volumes ($16.9 billion and $28.4 billion) but maintain significant issuance activity.
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  • South Africa dominates with 41,100 millionaires, accounting for more than 1 in 3 African millionaires, far ahead of any other nation.
  • Egypt (14,800) and Morocco (7,500) round out the top three, highlighting North Africa’s wealth concentration.
  • Nigeria (7,200) and Kenya (6,800) confirm West and East Africa’s growing wealth hubs, though still far below South Africa.
  • Mauritius (4,800) and Seychelles (500) rank surprisingly high relative to population size, showing their role as finance and wealth management hubs.
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  • Kenya’s total fraud exposure in 2024 hit KES 2.0T, with KES 1.6T actually lost.
  • Mobile banking fraud was the largest contributor, with KES 981.7B exposed and KES 810.7B lost.
  • Mobile banking had an 82.6% loss rate, making it one of the riskiest fraud channels.
  • Computer fraud and internet scams recorded 100% loss rates, showing no funds were recovered.
  • Identity theft saw 97.9% of exposed amounts lost, translating to KES 199.1B.
  • Card fraud had a lower loss rate (59.9%) but still cost banks and customers KES 263.3B.
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  • Morocco achieved the highest cumulative surplus in Africa’s digital trade at $26.4 billion between 2005 and 2024.
  • Mauritius and Tunisia followed distantly with surpluses of $8.7 billion and $4.4 billion, respectively.
  • Nigeria and Angola recorded the deepest deficits, each exceeding $90 billion cumulatively.
  • Africa’s overall digital trade balance remained negative, averaging a -$618 million deficit in 2024.
  • Smaller economies like Kenya and Togo managed modest but consistent surpluses over the years.
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  • The six North-Eastern states collectively owe around ₦450 billion in domestic debt as of Q2 2025.
  • Borno State maintains the lowest debt in the region at ₦22.3 billion, showing signs of controlled borrowing amid post-conflict rebuilding.
  • Bauchi State has the highest domestic debt burden of ₦143.6 billion, accounting for about 31% of the region’s total.
  • The top three states, Bauchi, Taraba and Gombe, collectively account for more than two-thirds of the zone’s total subnational debt stock.
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  • Nigeria paid $816.3 million to the International Monetary Fund, accounting for over 35% of total external debt service payments.
  • Eurobond payments followed closely, with $687.8 million paid, reflecting Nigeria’s heavy reliance on commercial debt instruments.
  • Multilateral lenders like IDA and AfDB collectively received about $463 million, signalling continued exposure to concessional financing.
  • China’s share shrinking: Payments to Chinese lenders (EXIM + CDB) totalled $235.6 million, less than 11% of total outflows, suggesting reduced Chinese debt servicing in H1 2025.
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  • FGN bonds dominated: ₦1.07 trillion went to Federal Government Bonds, accounting for about 63% of total domestic debt servicing.
  • Treasury bills followed: Payments on NTBs reached ₦537.9 billion, making up roughly 31% of the total.
  • Sukuk and promissory notes together cost ₦90.8 billion, reflecting Nigeria’s mix of infrastructure and settlement instruments.
  • Green and savings bonds remained minimal, together below ₦5 billion, showing limited traction for retail and sustainability-focused debt.
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  • China (773M) and India (607M) together make up for about 40% of the world’s total labour force.
  • Nigeria ranks 5th globally with 113 million workers, the largest in Africa and only African country in the top 10.
  • Asia dominates, accounting for over 47% of global workers, highlighting the region’s population and production strength.
  • The U.S.A. (174M) ranks third, representing just about 5% of global labour but producing almost a quarter of global GDP, proving productivity, not size, drives wealth.
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  • The Federal Government’s share of total public debt rose from 79.5% in 2019 to 92.6% in 2025.
  • States’ share has more than halved, from 20.5% to 7.4% in six years.
  • Total public debt grew from $83.9 billion to $99.7 billion, peaking at $113.4 billion in 2023.
  • Nigeria’s debt burden is increasingly concentrated at the centre, amplifying federal repayment risks and reducing fiscal independence for states.
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  • Wealth-building dominates motivation: 45.4% cite “active wealth building” as their primary motive, and an additional 21.8% cite “long-term financial security”.
  • Payments and utility are minor drivers: Only 3.3% report “daily utility” and 2.2% “digital commerce” as their chief motive for using crypto.
  • Hedging and cross-border flows matter: 8.7% use crypto for currency hedging, and 4.1% for cross-border payments, showing a dual role of investment plus international value flows.
  • Nigerian retail users treat crypto like a conventional financial instrument rather than only as a means of payment or speculation.
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