• The 2025 approved budget is nearly ₦55 trillion, marking a dramatic increase compared to previous years.
• From 2020 onwards, the budget has seen a rapid upward trend.
• Nigeria's national budget has consistently grown over the years, with notable jumps in 2016, 2021, and 2025.
• The most significant year-on-year increase occurred from 2024 to 2025, with a 91% rise.
• Since 2010, the budget has only decreased in four years (2012, 2014, 2015, and 2019), highlighting a generally upward trend in government spending

• Africa's labour force continues to grow significantly, with several countries exceeding 10 million workers in 2023.
• South Africa, despite its developed economy, has a labour force of 27 million, ranking below Tanzania and Egypt.
• Nigeria, Ethiopia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo have the largest labour forces in Africa.
• East Africa remains a major hub, with Kenya and Uganda featuring prominently in the top ten.

• Sovereign currency-backed instant payments are rare, suggesting limited adoption of central bank digital currency (CBDC) models.
• Cross-domain instant payment systems are the most popular, showing a strong push for interoperability across financial platforms.
• Instant payment systems with only bank participants are still widely used, indicating that traditional financial institutions remain central to digital transactions.
• Some African countries operate multiple instant payment systems, enhancing financial access through diverse options.

• Passenger travel generated the largest share of railway revenue at 63.5%.
• Pipeline usage accounted for 13.9%, showing that the sector tapped into multiple transport streams.
• Other income sources were minimal at 2%, highlighting limited ancillary revenue sources.
• The dominance of passenger fares underscores the importance of commuter travel for railway sustainability.

• Train passenger revenue in 2024 reached ₦4.8 billion naira by Q3, already surpassing 2023’s total revenue of ₦4.43 billion.
• The lowest passenger count was recorded in 2020 at 1.02 million, due to pandemic-related restrictions, but revenue still stood at ₦1.75 billion.
• The highest revenue in the last six years was in 2021, reaching ₦5.70 billion, with 3.21 million passengers contributing to the surge.
• Passenger numbers peaked in 2021 at 3.21 million and have steadily declined since, dropping by over one million passengers in just three years.

• Japan, South Korea, and Germany collectively host approximately 75% of all U.S. troops stationed abroad.
• Japan leads with 53K U.S. troops, followed by Germany (35K) and South Korea (24K).
• The Indo-Pacific (77K) edges out Europe (58K), while the Middle East (5K) holds minimal footholds in regional priorities.

• Japan leads with 14 bases. It hosts the most U.S. bases globally, exceeding individual counts in the Philippines (9) and South Korea (8).
• Asia-Pacific Dominance: The region (Japan, Philippines, South Korea, Australia, and Papua New Guinea) accounts for 41 bases, nearly 1/3 of the global total.
• The Asia-Pacific region hosts 41 U.S. bases, while Europe (Italy, Germany, Poland, UK) has 23. This indicates a growing strategic pivot towards the Pacific compared to traditional European deployments.
•  Kuwait (5 bases) stands out as the primary hub for U.S. military operations in the Middle East, highlighting its role as a key staging ground for regional security.
• The top 10 host countries account for 69 of the 128 total bases (over 53%), meaning nearly half of U.S. overseas bases are spread across the remaining 39 countries.

• WhatsApp’s global reach hit 2 billion monthly active users. It’s the undisputed leader in global messaging engagement.
• WeChat’s regional strength reached 1.3 billion monthly active users, but it is heavily concentrated in some regions, limiting its global monthly activity.
• Telegram’s rise to 900 million monthly active users and Snapchat’s sticky appeals to 800 million monthly active users revealed high engagement among younger demographics.
• QQ had 554 million monthly active users, highlighting its significant presence in the messaging market.

• Africa's migrant stock continues to rise, with several countries exceeding one million migrants in 2015.
• Burkina Faso and the Democratic Republic of Congo round out the top ten, with over half a million migrants each.
• Despite being Africa's youngest country, South Sudan ranked sixth, showing the country's rapid migration growth.
• South Africa has led since 2010, despite facing fluctuations in the migrant stock.
• East Africa sees significant migration, with Kenya and Ethiopia both exceeding one million migrants.

Key takeaways:

• From 2012 to 2024, the refugee population in the United States increased by approximately 66%, growing from 262,006 to 435,333.
• The overall trend indicates steady growth in the number of refugees in America, despite a brief period of stabilisation during 2020-2021.
• The years from 2022 to 2024 demonstrate a significant rise, with annual totals increasing by more than 72,000 refugees during this time frame.
• The figure for 2024, at 435,333 refugees, represents the highest number of refugees recorded from 2012 to 2024.

• Crude oil prices peaked at $93.12 in April, marking the highest point of the year before experiencing fluctuations in the following months.
• A steady decline in the last quarter saw prices drop to $74.72 in December, the lowest recorded price of 2024.
• The decline in prices from September onward raised concerns about potential revenue shortfalls, impacting government budgets and foreign exchange earnings.
• Oil prices remained unstable throughout the year, with significant fluctuations driven by geopolitical factors, global demand shifts, and production adjustments.