Key takeaways:

• February 2024 saw the largest month-on-month rise in inflation, climbing nearly 2% from 23.59% in January 2024.
• Nigeria experienced brief periods of relief, with slight drops in core inflation during November 2023 and September 2024.
• From May 2023 to December 2024, the inflation rate fluctuated within the 20% to 30% range.
• December 2023 registered the highest inflation rate during the first eight months of the observed period.
• The core inflation rate dropped to 22.59% in January 2025 from 29.28% in December 2024 due to the Consumer Price Index rebasing from 2009 to 2024.

Key takeaways:

• Libya's total revenue (85.78% of GDP) significantly surpassed all other African states.
• Lesotho is noteworthy with the second-highest total revenue ratio at 48.12%.
• Equatorial Guinea and Sao Tomé & Príncipe in Western Africa recorded total revenue of 30.79% and 25.38% respectively.
• South Africa generated 27.74% of its GDP in revenue.
• The top ten countries reported total revenue exceeding 28%.

• The South-South remitted ₦121.84B, making it one of the biggest net donors to the national VAT pool.
• The region received only ₦52.49B, meaning it got back just 43% of its VAT contributions.
• Rivers State alone remitted a staggering ₦90.21B (74% of the region’s total) but received only ₦11.01B (12.2% return), marking one of the worst VAT allocation disparities in Nigeria.
• Cross River had the lowest VAT contribution (₦1.55B) but received ₦7.45B, a 380% gain, while Bayelsa, despite remitting ₦12.8B, received only ₦8.02B, less than lower-remitting states like Delta (₦9.05B).
• Every state in the South-South received more than it remitted, except for Bayelsa and Rivers, with the latter being the only state to suffer a massive VAT deficit.

• East Africa: Ethiopia leads with 36.2 million agricultural workers (27.3% of its 132.5 million population). Agriculture is vital to its economy. Tanzania follows with 19.2 million workers (approximately 28.8% of 66.6 million). Uganda has 23.4% of its 50 million population in agriculture, and Kenya employs 7.6 million workers (approximately 13.7% of 55.3 million), despite land degradation affecting 80% of its land.
• West Africa: Nigeria has 26.8 million agricultural workers, but with a population of 232 million, it heavily depends on food imports as only 11.5% of its population work in the agriculture section. Ghana employs 5.5 million agricultural workers (16% of 34.4 million) and has strong potential for agricultural export growth, especially cocoa.
• Central Africa: DR Congo has 18.6 million agricultural workers out of a population of 109.2 million.
• Southern Africa: Mozambique has 9.9 million agricultural workers 29% of 34.6 million, while Madagascar employs 10.5 million (33% of 31.9 million). Agriculture is key to Madagascar’s economy but hindered by land issues, with women producing 80% of crops.
• North Africa: Egypt has 5.7 million agricultural workers (5% of 116.5 million), and relies on irrigation due to limited arable land and high food imports.

• North Africa dominates with 53.8% of Africa’s total reserves.
• West Africa holds 17.6%, despite economic challenges.
• Southern Africa accounts for 20.3%, benefiting from strong reserves in South Africa.
• East Africa lags behind with 4.4%, indicating lower reserve accumulation in the region.
• Central Africa holds the smallest share at 4%, reflecting economic struggles and weak financial buffers.

• Libya leads Africa’s reserves with $92.4B, followed by Algeria ($81.2B) and South Africa ($62.5B).
• Morocco $36.3B reserve places it fourth among African nations.
• Egypt’s holds $33.1B, maintaining a strong reserve position.
• Angola ($13.9B), Tunisia ($9.24B), Kenya ($7.34B), Mauritius ($7.25B), and DR Congo ($5.1B) round out the top 10.
• Libya and Algeria’s strong reserves highlight North Africa’s dominance in the Black continent reserve.

• In 2013, Africa’s total reserves stood at $560 billion, the highest recorded in the past decade.
• A steady decline followed, with reserves dropping to $402 billion by 2016.
• A moderate recovery began in 2017 at $426 billion, stabilising around $400 billion in recent years.
• As of 2022, Africa’s total reserves were estimated at $397 billion.
• Despite fluctuations, Africa’s reserves have hovered around $400 billion since 2019.

• Africa ranks 5th globally in total reserves. The continent’s $375B in reserves lags behind most regions, surpassing only Oceania.
• Asia leads with $8.24T, over half of global reserves, maintaining the strongest reserve and continent buffer driven by China, Japan, and India.
• Europe holds nearly five times Africa’s reserves, with $3.68T.
• South America’s $590B reserves is 57% more than Africa’s.
• Oceania remains the lowest with $84.8B.

• The mobility score improved dramatically from 42 in 2015 to 56 in 2023, highlighting a significant enhancement in travel freedom for Nigerian passport holders.
• A sharp decline occurred in 2020, dropping to 44, likely reflecting global travel disruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Post-pandemic recovery is evident in the score rebounding to 48 in 2021 and surging to 54 by 2022, surpassing pre-pandemic levels.
• The overall trend shows a steady upward trajectory from 2017 onward, suggesting successful diplomatic and policy initiatives aimed at expanding visa-free travel.

• There are nearly 600 million women aged 15-24 worldwide, with 90% living in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), making them a significant share of the global population.
• 37 countries grant women less than half of the legal rights of men, affecting 500 million women, while globally, women enjoy less than two-thirds of the legal rights available to men.
• Closing the gender gap in employment and entrepreneurship could boost global GDP by over 20%, and eliminating the gap within a decade could double the global growth rate.
• Women hold just 1 in 5 corporate board positions, partly because less than 20% of countries require gender-sensitive public procurement, excluding them from a $10 trillion-a-year opportunity.
• Women earn only 77 cents for every $1 paid to men, while 92 countries lack equal pay laws. Additionally, 20 countries prohibit women from night work and 45 ban women from “dangerous” jobs.
• By 2030, an estimated 8% of the world’s female population (342.4 million women and girls) will still live on less than $2.15 a day, with 220.9 million in sub-Saharan Africa.
• Climate change could push 158.3 million more women and girls into poverty by 2050, which is 16 million more than men and boys under a worst-case scenario.
• By 2020, food insecurity was projected to impact 236 million more women and girls, compared to 131 million more men and boys.
• By 2050, women will still spend 2.5 times more hours per day on unpaid care work than men. If valued monetarily, women’s unpaid labor could exceed 40% of GDP in some countries.

• With 24,062 cases, Kano accounts for the highest number of suspected diphtheria cases, making up a significant portion of the total outbreak in Nigeria.
• Yobe recorded 5,330 cases, while Katsina had 3,939 cases, reinforcing the concentration of diphtheria in northern states.
• Bauchi and Borno report similar case counts, with 3,066 and 3,035 cases, respectively.
• Kaduna (777 cases) and Jigawa (364 cases) report fewer cases but remain part of the seven states contributing to 96.6% of the outbreak.
• Other states combined report 1,405 cases, showing that diphtheria is largely a regional issue.
• Northern states dominate the case count, signaling potential regional healthcare and vaccination disparities.