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  • Global inflows of foreign direct investment fell by 12% in 2022, and Africa saw a 44% decline from $80 billion in 2021 to $45 billion. According to UNCTAD data, only two of Africa's five major regions — North and East Africa — saw a rise in FDI in 2022.
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    As of the end of September 2023, Starlink Nigeria had amassed a customer base of 11,207 active subscribers, growing 66% from 6,756 in June. It placed 4th in the market after Spectranet (113,747), Tizeti Network (19,126), and ipNX Nigeria (14,871).

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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.

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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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    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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  • The Nigerian Workplace Report indicates that over 50% of Nigeria’s working population earns less than ₦200,001 monthly. It further highlights that individuals earning above ₦600k are among the top 10% earners.

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  • 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.

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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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Other Insights
     
  • Nigeria’s exchange rate gain revenue dropped by 73.2% in H1 2025 compared to H1 2024.
  • In April 2025, exchange rate gain fell by 90% year-on-year from ₦285.5B to ₦28.7B.
  • May saw an 81% drop, with revenue declining from ₦438.9B in 2024 to ₦81.4B in 2025.
  • January 2025 was the only month with a stable figure, matching January 2024’s ₦402.7B.
  • Exchange rate gain revenue for February and March 2025 was unavailable, likely worsening the total.
  • The first half of 2025 generated only ₦589.4B in FX gains, compared to ₦2.2T in the same period in 2024.
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  • The value of agricultural goods exported in Q1 2025 rose to ₦1.70 trillion, up 64.65% year-on-year and 10.63% quarter-on-quarter, highlighting continued growth in the sector.
  • Standard and superior cocoa beans led the chart, contributing a combined ₦1.23 trillion, with major buyers being The Netherlands (₦344.17B) and Belgium (₦203.17B).
  • Cashew nuts in shell earned ₦157.63B, mostly exported to India (₦87.56B) and Vietnam (₦69.74B), while sesamum seeds brought in ₦128.18B.
  • Soya bean flours and ornamental flowers fetched ₦27B and ₦18B respectively, showing Nigeria's export mix is broadening.
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  • Lagos alone accounts for nearly 25% of all Nigerian states’ external debt, totalling $1.17 billion.
  • The combined debt of Lagos, Kaduna, and Edo is larger than the sum of the debts of the bottom 30 states.
  • States like Yobe, Abuja, and Jigawa each owe less than $25 million externally, indicating minimal foreign exposure.
  • Cross River, Rivers, and Ogun round out the top six debtors, each with external debts around [$190–210] million.
  • Just eleven states owe over $100 million each, while the majority owes less than that threshold.
  • Despite 36 subnational governments, the federal government’s $40.98 billion external debt is over 8x that of all states combined.
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  • Lagos alone holds more domestic debt than the bottom 25 states combined.
  • Jigawa’s domestic debt of ₦1.06 billion is less than 0.15% of Lagos’s debt, showing the widest disparity.
  • The 10 highest-indebted states account for nearly 70% of the total domestic debts across Nigerian states.
  • The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) carries more debt than 17 other states.
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  • Inflation jumped by 13.4 percentage points, from 9.0% pre-Buhari to 22.4% post-Buhari.
  • The value of the naira] depreciated by over 235% during Buhari’s tenure, ending at ₦645.2/$.
  • Total public debt increased nearly 7x, from ₦12.6 trillion in 2015 to ₦87.4 trillion in 2023.
  • Nigeria’s GDP growth rate averaged just 1.24% annually between 2015 and 2023.
  • Foreign reserves peaked at $44.5 billion in 2018 but dropped to $38.3 billion by 2023.
  • FDI inflows showed volatility, with the highest being $3.5 billion in 2021 and the lowest at $0.8 billion.
  • Nigeria's GDP growth rate was modest, with the country experiencing a recession in 2016.
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  • Guinea-Bissau showed the highest agricultural contribution to its GDP at 36.8% in 2024.
  • Contributions range widely, with high reliance seen in Comoros (36.6%) and Ethiopia (34.9%), contrasting with lower percentages in DR Congo (17.1%) and Angola (16.4%).
  • Agriculture, forestry, and fishing contributed a notable 20.4% to Nigeria's GDP in 2024.
  • Countries with high agricultural GDP contributions are predominantly located in West and East Africa.
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  • Nigeria is the world’s top yam producer since the 1980s.
  • West Africa supplies over 95% of global yam output.
  • Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire have grown steadily in the rankings.
  • Non-African countries play a very small role today.
  • Nigeria exports very little yam despite massive production.
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  • Libya leads Africa with 48.4 billion barrels of recoverable oil, the continent’s highest.
  • Nigeria ranks second with 37.3 billion barrels, accounting for about 27% of reserves among top holders.
  • Algeria holds 12.2 billion barrels, rounding out the top three and far ahead of other nations.
  • Sudan, Egypt, and Angola each contribute between 2.5 and 5 billion barrels, showing smaller but notable reserves.
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  • South Africa leads the continent with a vast 20,986km rail network, nearly triple the size of Sudan’s, the second-largest.
  • Nigeria’s rail infrastructure measures 3,798km, ranking it behind Kenya (3,819km) and DR Congo (4,007km).
  • North African countries like Egypt and Algeria maintain significant rail mileage, exceeding 4,000km each.
  • Southern Africa dominates the top five, with Mozambique and Zimbabwe also featuring prominently.
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  • Zambia recorded its highest-ever FDI inflow in 2013 at $2.10 billion.
  • After dipping to a negative inflow of -$0.07 billion in 2022, Zambia recovered to $1.24 billion in 2024.
  • The country experienced its first billion-dollar inflow in 2007, marking a turning point in foreign investment.
  • FDI inflow was consistently below $0.5 billion throughout the 1990s, indicating limited investor confidence during that period.
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  • Algeria leads Africa with 41 active oil rigs, making up nearly 29% of the continent's total count.
  • Nigeria follows with 31 rigs, confirming its strong position in West Africa’s upstream oil activity.
  • Egypt ranks third with 23 rigs, while Libya maintains 18 rigs despite its fluctuating political climate.
  • The top seven countries host 122 of Africa’s 144 rigs, showing drilling operations are concentrated in just a handful of nations.
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  • July 2025 saw the ASI rise by 8.6%, the largest monthly jump in over a year.
  • The index grew steadily for four straight months from April to July 2025.
  • ASI climbed from 99.5K in June 2024 to 126.7K in July 2025, a 27.3% increase overall.
  • August 2024 recorded the sharpest monthly drop at -2.9%.
  • December 2024 and January 2025 posted back-to-back strong gains of 2.5% and 3.8% respectively.
  • May and June 2025 saw healthy gains of 4.2% and 6.6%, paving the way for July’s surge.
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  • Nigeria ranked first in Africa, with 880 H-1B visas issued in FY 2024, far ahead of Ghana (499) and Egypt (364).
  • East and Southern Africa featured prominently, with Kenya (320), South Africa (208), and Zimbabwe (132) among the top 10.
  • North African representation was modest, with Morocco (78) and Egypt (364) being the only countries in the region on the list.
  • Despite these numbers, Africa’s collective total is marginal globally, especially compared to India’s ~150,000 issuances and China’s large volumes.
  • President Donald Trump’s $100,000 fee for new U.S. H-1B skilled worker visas will have limited impact on Africa, which has historically received only a small fraction of these visas.
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  • The US granted 219,813 H-1B visas in FY 2024 to skilled workers worldwide.
  • India received nearly 70%, followed by China at 14.5%.
  • The Philippines (1.6%), South Korea (1%), Mexico (0.9%), and Nigeria (0.4%) received smaller shares.
  • 427,091 petitions were filed in 2024, 399,402 approved, but only 219,813 visas issued, showing the difference between approvals and actual visas used.
  • Starting September 21, 2025, a $100,000 fee on new H-1B petitions will be implemented, exempting existing visa holders and renewals, potentially impacting top recipient countries like India and China.
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  • Nigeria’s sports budget rose sharply to ₦113 billion in 2025, tripling from the 2024 figure.
  • The 2025 allocation represents a 243.8% increase compared to the previous year.
  • Youth and Sports budget allocations were relatively stable between 2021 and 2023, averaging about ₦186 billion.
  • The splitting of the Ministry of Youth and Sports budgets in 2024 likely contributed to the steep dip that year.
  • The rebound in the sports development budget in 2025 signals government re-prioritisation of sports development.
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  • Africa’s cybersecurity score increased by 171% between 2017 and 2024.
  • The continent’s score rose from 21 in 2017 to 57 in 2024
  • Africa has reduced the gap with global averages, reducing the difference from 15 points in 2017 to 9 points in 2024.
  • The global cybersecurity score rose from 36 in 2017 to 66 in 2024.
  • Africa’s most notable leap was between 2021 (35) and 2024 (57), showing accelerated progress in recent years.
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  • Private sector credit growth peaked at 13.5% in Q4 2023.
  • Growth remained stable between 12 and 13% throughout 2022 and 2023.
  • A sharp decline began in 2024, dropping to 11.5% in Q1.
  • Credit growth plunged to 5.4% in Q2 2024, showing a steep contraction.
  • The lowest point was Q4 2024, at just 0.9%.
  • A rebound started in early 2025, with growth rising to 2.4% in Q1.
  • By Q2 2025, private sector credit growth recovered to 4.4%, though still far below its 2023 highs.
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  • Private households hold the largest share of credit at 27.8%.
  • Trade accounts for 14.4% of outstanding private sector loans.
  • Manufacturing makes up 12.3% of the private sector credit share.
  • Combined, households, trade, and manufacturing absorb 54.5% of all private credit.
  • Consumer durables contribute 9.4% of outstanding loans.
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