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  • telecoms-subscribers-663796a2bc04d

    In May 2023, 4G made up 25% of Nigeria's telecoms market; by March 2024, its share had increased to 32.7%. 2G's share of the market went from 58% to 57%, with 3G dropping from 16.5% to 9%. 5G has maintained steady growth from 0.12% to 1.24%.

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    Top ten natural rubber-producing countries (1990-2022)
    Côte d'Ivoire emerged as the world's fourth-largest producer of natural rubber in 2022. Cote d'Ivoire, Nigeria, and Liberia are the only African countries in the top ten between 1990 and 2022.
    Nigeria was among the top ten until 2010, but as of 2022, Côte d'Ivoire was the only African country in the top ten producers. 
    Asian countries have historically led the world's natural rubber production, with the top seven countries — Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, India, Vietnam, China, and Philippines — producing 87% of the global output between 1990 and 2022.
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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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  • 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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    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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  • 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.
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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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Other Insights
  • 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.
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  • Coal demand peaked in 2007 at 1,705.1 Mtce, after a steady rise from 1,123.2 Mtce in 1974, marking a 52% increase over three decades.
  • A dramatic drop followed post 2007, with demand falling by 44.8% to 941.3 Mtce by 2020, a loss of over 763 Mtce in just 13 years.
  • Between 2020 and 2024, the decline continued, albeit more gradually, reaching 832.7 Mtce, indicating a consistent downward trend.
  • Coal consumption in 2024 is the lowest in five decades, even lower than 1974 levels, reflecting a major shift in global energy use.
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Key Takeaways:

  • In June 2022, 9mobile recorded a peak of 324 port-ins.
  • The lowest port-in figure during the period was recorded in February 2025, with only one subscriber.
  • In June 2021, 9mobile received 191 new ported-in users, which decreased to 3 by April 2025.
  • Monthly port-in numbers have been progressively dropping, from a three-digit to a single-digit level by 2025.
  • A slight recovery was observed in May 2024 (226), but it was not sustained.
  • By early 2025, port-ins dropped to as low as 1-3 per month.
  • This trend is consistent with a sharp decline in its subscriber base.
  • Compared to other service providers, 9mobile has struggled to attract and maintain switching clients.
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Key Takeaways:

  • Africa’s total cashew nut (in shell) production increased from 172,050 tonnes in 1961 to over 2.25 million tonnes in 2023, a growth of approximately 1,209%.
  • Western Africa has been the primary driver of this growth since the 1990s and now produces the largest share of cashew nuts in Africa.
  • Western Africa accounted for 84% of Africa’s total cashew nut production by 2023.
  • Middle Africa has maintained a minimal but consistent level of production.
  • Eastern Africa led production from the 1960s through the 1980s before being overtaken by Western Africa.
  • The most significant growth in Africa’s cashew production began in the 1990s.
  • Despite overall growth, cashew production in Africa has experienced periodic fluctuations.
  • Mostly due to their climate conditions, Southern and Northern Africa regions are less favourable for cashew production than other African regions.
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Key takeaways:

  • MTN maintained the highest market share, growing from 41% in December 2015 to 52% by April 2025.
  • Airtel grew significantly, expanding from 22% in December 2015 to 34% by Apr 2025.
  • 9mobile experienced a steep decline, falling from 15% to 2% over the same period.
  • Globacom maintained stability until 2023, then saw a dramatic fall from 27% to 12% by December 2024.
  • The total market grew from 148.7 million in 2015 to 172.7 million subscribers in 2025 (16% growth).
  • 9mobile's market share declined from 22.2 million subscribers (15%) to just 3.0 million (2%) in 2025.
  • Globacom lost 41.5 million subscribers between 2023 and 2024.
  • Airtel's market share expanded from 22% to 34%.
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Jumia's milestones (2012 to May 2025)
  • Jumia hit unicorn status between 2015 and 2016 after a €300M raise led by key global investors.
  • Its 2019 IPO raised $196M, making it the first African tech company to list on the NYSE.
  • Post-IPO backlash led to a 50% drop in stock price after Citron’s fraud allegations.
  • Between 2020 and 2021, Jumia exited multiple African markets and saw major investors like MTN and Rocket Internet cash out.
  • Jumia exited South Africa and Tunisia in 2024, signalling sharper market focus.
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Global active Facebook users by region as of January 2025
  • Southern Asia alone hosts 520 million active Facebook users, making up 22.8% of global users.
  • South-Eastern Asia follows with 398 million users, equivalent to 17.4% of Facebook's global audience.
  • Nigeria has 38.7 million Facebook users, placing it among the highest in Africa but contributing only 1.3% globally.
  • Southern America and Northern America have 257 million and 221 million users respectively.
  • Western and Northern Africa combined have nearly 185 million users.
  • Central Asia and the Caribbean have the fewest Facebook users globally, with just 6.4 million and 13.8 million users, respectively.
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Share of selected social media users by regions in Africa (Jan. 2025)
  • Northern Africa makes up 65.6% of all Messenger users in Africa.
  • On Instagram, more than half (55.8%) of African users are from Northern Africa.
  • TikTok has its largest African user share in Northern Africa at 48.0%.
  • Western Africa leads the African presence on X (formerly Twitter) with 35.4% of total users.
  • LinkedIn usage is more evenly distributed
  • Facebook users are most concentrated in Northern Africa (37.8%), followed by Western Africa (25.7%).
  • Central Africa contributes the least to every platform, consistently under 8% in all cases.
  • Eastern Africa contributes 20% on X, showing stronger engagement on text-based platforms over visual-heavy ones like Instagram.
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Key takeaways:

  • In September 2015, 9mobile had a peak subscriber base of 23.49 million.
  • After reaching that peak, its subscriber base fell steadily in late 2015.
  • The most drastic reduction happened between February and April 2024, with nearly 5 million customers lost in just three months.
  • 9mobile has lost more than 20 million customers since its peak in September 2015.
  • More than 10 million subscribers were lost between January and April 2025 (>78%).
  • 9mobile customers increased significantly until 2015, then steadily declined, with a steep reduction after 2023.
  • The subscriber base was mostly steady from January 2020 to February 2024.
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Key Takeaways:

  • September 2024 saw the most outbound departures (7,127), followed by January 2025 (6,716 losses).
  • From June 2021 to April 2025, the network saw a steady and increasing loss of consumers to other suppliers.
  • The outflow has accelerated considerably since mid-2023, showing growing subscriber dissatisfaction or more appealing options.
  • The largest monthly outflows occurred between July 2024 and April 2025, when more than 5,000 subscribers left on a consistent monthly basis.
  • Early 2021 numbers were extremely low, with only 323 ports in June and July 2021.
  • The number of subscribers transferring out decreased dramatically between September 2024 and December 2024, before peaking again in January 2025.
  • Monthly port-outs rose from 323 in June 2021 to 7,127 in September 2024, an approximately 2,107% increase.
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Key Takeaways:

  • 9mobile consistently tops the port-out chart, averaging over 75% of all outgoing ports over 24 months.
  • The highest subscriber loss from 9mobile occurred in September 2024, with 90.38% of all ports.
  • Airtel and Globacom show relatively stable port-out shares, rarely crossing 15%, with occasional surges. MTN has the lowest overall port-out rates, peaking at 13.64% in January 2025.
  • Total port-outs to other service providers surged by 127%, from 2,992 in May 2023 to 6,789 in April 2025.
  • The highest port transfer to another provider occurred in September 2024, with 7,886 total departures, and 9mobile recording 7,127 losses (90.38%).
  • Globacom’s outflow increased sharply from the July 2023 low, reaching 18.16% in April 2025.
  • Airtel maintained relatively low but fluctuating port-out rates, hitting its highest at 14.61% in October 2023.
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Global active Instagram users by region as of January 2025
  • Southern Asia dominates Instagram usage globally with 448M users.
  • Southern America (237M) and Northern America (192M) significantly trail behind Southern Asia.
  • Nigeria leads West Africa with 9.9M users, ahead of countries in the Caribbean and Middle Africa.
  • Africa’s Instagram audience remains relatively small, but its most active countries and regions, like Nigeria and Northern Africa, are worth watching.
  • Middle Africa (2.8M users) is the smallest regional contributor.
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  • South Africa has doubled from 317,000 units in 1999 to approximately 600,000 units in 2024.
  •  Major peaks were recorded in 2006 (588K), 2016 (616K), and 2018 (632K), while noticeable declines occurred in 2009 (374K) and 2020 (447K), reflecting global economic shocks.
  • South Africa remains one of the leading vehicle producers in Africa, manufacturing a wide mix of passenger cars, light commercial vehicles (LCVs), trucks, and buses/coaches.
  • The industry plays a critical role in exports, employment, and industrial development, making South Africa an automotive hub on the continent.
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  • China built 31.3M vehicles in 2024, more than the U.S. and Japan combined, and over one-third of global output.
  • The U.S. and Japan are still major players, but each produced less than half of China’s volume.
  • India, rising with 6.0M vehicles, is cementing its place as a global automotive powerhouse.
  • Europe’s strength: Germany leads with 4.1M units, supported by Spain, France, and the Czech Republic.
  • Brazil, Thailand, and Turkey demonstrate strong regional growth.
Africa’s contribution:
  • South Africa (21st, 0.59M units) is the continent’s top producer.
  • Morocco (23rd, 0.56M units) follows closely. Combined, they reflect Africa’s small but developing presence in the global auto industry.
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  • 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.
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  • Samsung dominates with 26.42% of Ghana’s smartphone market, making it the clear leader.
  • Tecno (17.7%) and Apple (17.4%) are in a tight race for second place, separated by just 0.3 percentage points.
  • Infinix (10.5%) and Itel (5.2%) highlight the strong presence of Transsion Holdings brands in Ghana.
  • Global giants like Huawei (6.8%) and Xiaomi (2.5%) lag behind, showing Ghana’s preference for budget-friendly African-focused brands.
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  • Seychelles is the tiniest country in Africa, covering only 452 km², smaller than the size of some global cities.
  • Island nations dominate the smallest group, with Seychelles, Comoros, Mauritius, and Cape Verde all under 5,000 km² each.
  • Gambia is the smallest mainland country, spanning 10,700 km², surrounded almost entirely by Senegal except its Atlantic coast.
  • Only 10 African countries have land areas under 30,000 km², with most being among the continent’s most densely populated.
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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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