• Global cotton production grew by over 160%, from about 9.5 million tonnes in 1961 to 24.8 million tonnes in 2022.
• China’s Reign: 41 years at number one. Biggest output: 7.62M tonnes in 2007.
• USA’s Era: 13 years at the top. Peak production: 5.20M tonnes in 2005.
• USSR’s Legacy: 5 years crowned. Best year: 2.89M tonnes in 1981.
• India’s Late Charge: Only 3 years at number one, but a huge 6.13M tonnes in 2020.
• Shift to Asia: In the early decades, USA dominated; now, it’s mostly China and India running the game.

• Egypt dominated African cotton production for decades, from the 1960s to the early 2000s, standing far ahead of other African countries in both volume and quality.
• The early 2000s marked a major turning point, as West African countries — especially Burkina Faso and Mali — began to overtake Egypt in total production.
• Burkina Faso emerged as the new cotton leader between 2005 and 2015, topping production in key years like 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, and 2012–2015, and later reclaiming the top spot in 2020 and 2022.
• Mali built its cotton strength after 2015, becoming Africa’s number one producer multiple times, peaking at over 334,000 tonnes in 2019.
• Benin and Côte d’Ivoire quietly closed the gap throughout the 2010s, consistently ranking in the top three, even though they didn’t dominate the number one spot.

• Seychelles leads Africa with a near-perfect AIDI score of 99.77.
• Egypt and Libya follow with strong performances of 91.43 and 85.84, respectively.
• Tunisia ranks 6th with a score of 74.18, showing consistent infrastructure growth.
• Morocco and Algeria, despite being major economies, scored below 75.
• Botswana rounds out the top 10 with a score of 42.13, nearly double Nigeria’s score.
• Nigeria, despite its economic size, scored just 25.70, far below the continental leaders, highlighting major infrastructure gaps.

• Seychelles' AIDI score more than doubled between 2003 (47.43) and 2024 (99.77).
• The score crossed the 70-point mark in 2009 and jumped past 90 in 2013.
• Between 2012 and 2024, the country maintained an AIDI score above 89, showing long-term infrastructure strength.
• From 2003 to 2008, the score rose steadily each year, averaging more than 2 points annually.
• The last five years (2020–2024) showed minimal fluctuation, with scores above 98 every year.
• This performance positioned Seychelles as Africa’s most infrastructure-ready nation in 2024.

• Goodluck Jonathan's era (2010–2015) delivered the highest AIDI growth, with a CAGR of 6.84%, more than double that of his successor.
• Muhammadu Buhari’s administration saw steady but slower growth, with a CAGR of 2.63%, increasing the score from 20.60 in 2016 to 25.70 in 2024.
• Musa Yar’Adua’s brief tenure (2007–2010) still managed a solid CAGR of 4.26%, indicating promising momentum that was cut short.
• Nigeria's AIDI score rose from 8.61 in 2003 to 25.70 in 2024, nearly tripling in two decades.
• Obasanjo’s tenure saw the slowest growth, with only a 2.59% CAGR, suggesting limited infrastructure expansion in the early 2000s.
• The fastest absolute annual increase occurred between 2010 and 2014, when scores jumped by over 2 points per year.
• Despite steady growth, Nigeria's 2024 score of 25.70 still places it far from top performers in Africa, showing that significant infrastructure gaps remain.

• Sub-Saharan Africa has the lowest mobile data usage globally, at 6.7 GB/month, which is less than one-third of the global average.
• India, Nepal, and Bhutan top the global chart with the highest data consumption at 36 GB/month, signalling deep mobile integration in daily life.
• Gulf Cooperation Council countries follow closely with 31.9 GB/month.
• Western Europe and North America share the same high usage rate of 25.8 GB/month, indicating mature digital economies with consistent connectivity.
• Latin America also lags, though still more than twice ahead of Sub-Saharan Africa at 15.2 GB/month.
• The Middle East and North Africa surpass the global average too, at 22.7 GB/month, further highlighting the unique lag of Sub-Saharan Africa in mobile data use.

• Alimosho leads by far with 1,120,776 households—more than 400,000 households ahead of second-placed Oshodi Isolo (639,866).
• Oshodi Isolo, Ikeja, and Ojo each have over 390,000 households, positioning them as Lagos’ other major residential hubs.
• Lagos Island, despite its popularity and commercial relevance, has the fewest households at just 27,199.
• Ibeju-Lekki, often seen as a fast-developing area, currently has only 71,496 households, highlighting its future potential.
• Mushin, Surulere, and Ifako Ijaiye all have over 280,000 households each, forming a mid-tier residential cluster worth noting for service providers and real estate developers.
• Coastal and outer LGAs like Badagry and Epe still reflect moderate household numbers, potentially constrained by infrastructure and distance from central business districts.
• The gap between top and bottom LGAs is wide, showing Lagos’ uneven urban spread and pointing to both opportunities and challenges in housing development, planning, and equitable service delivery.

• Pius IX served the longest papacy from the 15th century to 2025, with 11,465 days, over three decades.
• John Paul II comes in second with 9,658 days, guiding the Church through some of the most politically charged eras of the 20th century.
• Leo XIII is third, serving 9,275 days, during a time of major global industrial and philosophical shifts.
• Only three popes have served more than 9,000 days.
• Modern popes like Francis I and Paul VI managed to serve over 4,700 and 5,500 days, respectively, reflecting continued longevity in the modern Church.
• The 17th and 18th centuries saw multiple popes—Urban VIII, Clement XI, and Pius VI—with pontificates exceeding 7,000 days.

• Burkina Faso's AIDI score increased by over 10 points between 2003 (11.36) and 2024 (22.11).
• The country experienced notable improvements between 2010 and 2012, with scores rising from 12.72 to 14.25.
• The period between 2018 and 2024 showed the most consistent yearly growth, climbing from 17.51 to 22.11.
• Between 2007 and 2008, Burkina Faso saw one of its smallest improvements, with only a 0.38-point increase.
• The country's AIDI score crossed the 15-point mark in 2013 and has not dropped below it since then.
• Between 2019 and 2024 alone, Burkina Faso added nearly 5 points to its score, showing accelerated development efforts.
• Despite positive growth, the 22.11 score in 2024 still reflects major infrastructure deficits when compared to an ideal score of 100.

• Wizkid's Morayo leads the pack with 12.12 million first-day streams—30% more than the runner-up, 5ive (9.29M).
• The top three singles (Morayo, 5ive, Lungu Boy) together account for 27.29M streams, or 45% of the combined 46.75M total.
• Streams fall nearly 50% between 3rd (5.88M) and 4th place (Timeless, 4.91M), highlighting a sharp mid-chart taper.
• Even #10 (S2) amassed over 2M first-day spins, showing strong baseline engagement across diverse artists.

Key Takeaways: 

• The US' trade deficit with Nigeria narrowed significantly, shifting from a $5.14 billion deficit in 2017 to a $1.69 billion surplus in 2024.
• US goods exports to Nigeria reached $4.2 billion in 2024, representing a 92% increase from the $2.2 billion recorded in 2017.
• US goods imports from Nigeria totalled $5.9 billion in 2024, a 20% decrease from the $7.3 billion recorded in 2017.
• The COVID-19 pandemic severely disrupted bilateral trade in 2020, but both imports and exports began recovering steadily from 2021 onwards.
• By 2024, trade had rebounded substantially, with US imports from Nigeria reaching $5.87 billion and exports to Nigeria reaching $4.17 billion.
• Despite experiencing persistent trade deficits from 2017 through most of the period, the US achieved trade surpluses with Nigeria in 2020 and 2021.
• Total goods trade between the US and Nigeria ranged from $4 billion to approximately $10 billion.

Key takeaways:

• Zenith Bank Plc led the profitability ranking with a Profit After Tax (PAT) of ₦1.03 trillion.
• Guaranty Trust Holding Company followed closely with ₦1.02 trillion in PAT.
• Each of the top six banks recorded profits exceeding ₦600 billion.
• The total PAT for the top ten banks rose by 53%, from ₦3.39 trillion in 2023 to ₦5.54 trillion in 2024.
• FCMB Group Plc was the only bank among the top ten to record a year-on-year decline in PAT.
• Ecobank, First Holdco, Fidelity Bank, and Wema Bank each recorded over 100% growth in PAT compared to 2023.