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  • Seychelles has the most powerful passport in Africa in 2023, with visa-free access to 155 countries and territories, followed by Mauritius (148). Nigerian passport holders have visa-free access to 46 countries, one of the lowest in Africa. Africa's most powerful passports in 2023 by the number of travel destinations passport holders can travel to visa-free:

    Seychelles (155), Mauritius (148), South Africa (106), Botswana (89), Namibia (81), Lesotho (79), Eswatini (77), Kenya (76), Malawi (75), Tanzania (73).

    Africa's least powerful passports in 2023 by the number of travel destinations passport holders can travel to visa-free:
    Liberia (51), Djibouti (49), Ethiopia (47), Nigeria (46), South Sudan (46), DR Congo (45), Eritrea (44), Sudan (44), Libya (41), Somalia (35).

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    The oil refining industry experienced the highest industrial decline in 2022

    Nigeria's GDP grew by 3.1% in 2022, with at least 17 of its industries recording less than 5% growth individually. The oil refining industry experienced the least growth, contributing ₦11.2 billion — 42% less than ₦19.3 billion in 2021.

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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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  • happiness-2024-65fdcc8a1f311

    Nigeria has ranked the 102nd happiest country of 143 countries surveyed globally as of 2024; it ranked 11th of 40 African countries.​
    ​​
    ​Libya ranked 66th globally and 1st in Africa, followed by Mauritius and South Africa in 70th and 83rd positions, respectively.

    The World Happiness Report ranks happiness based on GDP per capita, life expectancy, generosity, social support, freedom, and corruption.

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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
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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  • Zimbabwe has the highest benchmark interest rate in Africa at 35%, exceeding Ghana, the second highest, by 7% points.
  • Nigeria holds the third highest interest rate on the continent at 27.5%, just 0.5% points behind Ghana, signalling aggressive policy intervention.
  • Zimbabwe, Ghana, Nigeria, Malawi, and Egypt have interest rates above 25%, showing a regional pattern of tight monetary conditions.
  • There is a significant drop of over 5% points between Sierra Leone at 24.75% and Angola at 19.5%, marking a clear shift to lower-rate economies below the top tier.
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  • The USA leads the suppliers with 1.40 million barrels/day, making it the largest single contributor to the EU’s crude oil imports in 2024.
  • Norway and Kazakhstan follow closely, delivering 1.10M and 1.05M b/d respectively, together accounting for over 24% of the EU’s total imports.
  • Nigeria ranks 7th, contributing 0.54M b/d, which is 5.9% of total EU crude oil imports, ahead of Brazil and the UK.
  • The top 6 suppliers (USA to Iraq) delivered 5.45 million b/d in total, representing nearly 60% of the EU’s crude oil demand.
  • The rest of the world, not listed among the top 10, contributed 2.24M b/d, underscoring the EU’s diversified sourcing strategy.
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  • Chrome dominates the global browser market with a 66% share, handling two-third of all web traffic across devices.
  • Safari follows distantly at 17%, trailing Chrome by a wide margin of 49% points.
  • Edge, Firefox, Samsung Internet, and Opera combined account for only 12% of the market, showing limited competition.
  • Other lesser-known browsers collectively hold a 5% share, indicating minimal impact from emerging or alternative players.
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  • WISPI measures how well police and internal security systems serve the public through capacity, process, legitimacy, and outcomes.
  • The 2023 index ranked 125 countries and territories using 12 indicators.
  • A score of 1 signals strong trust and safety. A score of 0 signals failure and abuse.
  • Sub-Saharan Africa had the lowest average score at 0.369 across 33 countries.
  • Finland, Norway, Singapore, Netherlands, and Denmark topped the index with high trust and low crime.
  • Venezuela, Uganda, DRC, Nigeria, and Madagascar ranked lowest due to bribery, underreporting, and weak outcomes.
  • In Nigeria, just 0.05% of thefts were reported and 81% of survey respondents admitted to paying a police officer bribe.
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  • The US led global barley beer output for 41 straight years (1961–2001).
  • China has topped production every year since 2002—21 years and counting.
  • The US produced 1.28 billion tonnes in 62 years—about 3.88 trillion bottles of 33cl beer.
  • Nigeria rose from 53rd place in 1961 to 13th in 2014, before sliding to 22nd by 2022.
  • Global beer leadership now reflects shifts in demand from Western to Asian markets.
  • Beer output trends mirror broader changes in economic power and population growth.
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  • In 2023, international students made up 5.9% of total US higher education enrollment.
  • This is the highest share ever recorded since tracking began in 1948.
  • The share has grown steadily from 1.1% in 1948 to nearly 6% today.
  • Peak growth occurred from the late 1970s through the 2010s.
  • The total enrollment base in 2023 was 18.9 million, down from the 2011 peak of 21.2 million.
  • International student share remained resilient even as overall enrollment declined post-2010.
  • The 2020 dip (4.6%) resulted from the COVID disruption, but recovery was swift.
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  • Mauritius, with a median age of 38 years, has the oldest population in Africa.
  • The Central African Republic has the youngest population, with a median age of 14 years.
  • Nigeria’s median age of 18 years reflects the dominance of youth in its population.
  • Older populations tend to signal lower fertility rates.
  • Younger populations highlight higher fertility rates and greater demand for education and jobs.
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  • US imports from Africa grew 23.9% year-on-year to $23.4 billion in H1 2025.
  • South Africa drove much of the growth, with exports surging 52.2% to $9.5 billion.
  • Nigeria recorded a 12.1% decline in exports to the US, falling to $2.8 billion.
  • Algeria also posted a contraction, with exports dropping 13.5% to $1.1 billion.
  • Egypt’s exports increased 14.8%.
  • Other African countries collectively expanded exports by 23.5% to $8.6 billion.
  • Africa’s trade growth with the US continues despite tariff barriers, showing resilience.
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  • US imports from Africa jumped 24% to $23.4 billion in H1 2025 despite tariffs.
  • Egypt led gains, doubling its surplus with the US to $2.73 billion.
  • Nigeria swung into a $576 million surplus, reversing last year’s deficit.
  • South Africa’s deficit with the US nearly doubled to $6.32 billion, dragging the overall balance.
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  • Johannesburg is home to the highest number of millionaires in Africa, with 11,700 individuals.
  • Six out of the top ten wealthiest African cities are located in South Africa.
  • Cairo leads North Africa with 6,800 millionaires, showing its dominance as a financial hub.
  • Nairobi has 4,200 millionaires, making it East Africa’s wealthiest city.
  • Lagos, with 3,600 millionaires, remains West Africa’s wealthiest city.
  • Lifestyle regions, such as the Cape Winelands and the Garden Route, feature prominently, reflecting the importance of property and lifestyle economies.
  • Casablanca, with 2,900 millionaires, underscores Morocco’s rising appeal as a North African wealth centre.
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  • Capital expenditure accounted for the largest share of Lagos State’s Q1 2025 spending, at 52%.
  • Overhead costs consumed 22% of the total expenditure.
  • Personnel costs accounted for 18%, reflecting the importance of workforce expenses.
  • Debt servicing made up 5%, indicating relatively low pressure from debt obligations.
  • The balance between recurrent (personnel, overhead, debt, and other recurrent) and capital spending leans heavily towards long-term growth.
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  • Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) accounted for 61% of Lagos State’s Q1 2025 receipts.
  • VAT was the second-largest funding source, contributing 22%.
  • Loans made up 8% of total inflows for the quarter.
  • Opening balance accounted for 4%, indicating a moderate carryover from the previous year.
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