A country with strong infrastructure, affordable services, and high digital literacy, enabling everyone to use fast and reliable mobile internet will have a perfect score (100) on the GSMA's Mobile Connectivity Index 2023. South Africa leads in Africa with 69.53.
Globally, Singapore is first, with a score of 93.7, setting the benchmark for mobile internet adoption. Only four African countries — South Africa, Mauritius, Seychelles, and Egypt — surpassed the global average score.
In 2017, the price of Bitcoin suffered a hit when it crashed following a huge crypto boom that saw the price go from $400 in 2016 to $19,118 in 2017. Bitcoin went down to $3,000 in 2018, losing 447% of the value it had accumulated in 2017. By 2019, the market saw a positive trend with the price of bitcoin reaching $36,833.
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.
The Global Innovation Index 2024 reveals a striking contrast in innovation performance between countries globally and across Africa. Switzerland leads the global rankings with an impressive score of 67.5, followed by Sweden (64.5) and the USA (62.4), highlighting their sustained investments in research, development, and technological advancement.
In Africa, Mauritius takes the top spot with a score of 30.5, followed closely by Morocco (28.8) and South Africa (28.3). However, even Africa's most innovative nations achieve less than half the score of global leaders, indicating a significant innovation gap.
Nigeria ranks 15th in the African ranking and 113th globally, out of 133 countries, with a score of 17.1.
Cocoa beans are a vital commodity for many countries, driving their economies and supporting livelihoods. Over the years, cocoa production has seen significant fluctuations across different countries.
The world's cocoa-producing countries produced 104.2 million tonnes of cocoa beans between 2000 and 2022, enough to fill about 2.084 billion 50kg bags. Côte d'Ivoire maintains its dominance, accounting for 35.3% of global production in the 23 years under review, with Ghana (16.5%), Indonesia (15.4%), and Nigeria (7.7%) completing the top four.
These are the top ten countries in the period.
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.
As of December 2023, Indians accounted for one in three holders of Canadian work permits, representing 32% of the total (1.76 million). Ukraine followed with almost 10%. Nigeria came 8th, with 2% of the permit holders.
As of December 2023, more than 36,000 Nigerians — 2% of the global holders — had Canadian work permits. This number represented a 118% rise from December 2022.
Nigeria's share of the total peaked in December 2018 at 2.4%.
N.B. The number of global holders of the Canadian work permit increased by 60% in 2023.
In Q4 2023, Spectranet maintained its top position as Nigeria's biggest internet service provider with nearly 114k active subscribers, holding 43% of the market share. FiberOne followed with 10% of the market.
Starlink increased its subscriber base by 113% to claim the 3rd position with 9% of the market.
Here are Nigeria's top internet service providers by active subscribers in Q4 2023.
In 2023, businesses in Nigeria's finance and insurance sector paid ₦458.8 billion as taxes to the government, 119.6% more than in 2022.
Those in the manufacturing sector also increased their payments and remain the top tax-paying sector in the country.
Here are the top five sectors where businesses paid the most tax in 2023.
According to recent data, there were approximately 96,487 tonnes of gold jewellery in the world in Dec. 2023, accounting for 45% of the total estimated amount of gold (212,582 tonnes) mined throughout history. Here is an estimated distribution of gold holdings as of Dec. 2023.
Jumia Group has recorded $1b in losses since listing on the New York Stock Exchange in 2019. The eCommerce giant also recorded its highest yearly loss in 2019. In recent years, Jumia Group has shut down some of its businesses across Africa, thus recording its lowest loss over seven years in 2023.
The cost of cooking gas nationwide increased from an average of ₦10.3k in March 2023 to nearly ₦16k in March 2024.
However, the northern regions had the most affordable prices. The North East had the lowest average price of ₦14.9k for a 12.5kg cylinder.
In Katsina, the average price for 12.5kg of cooking gas was ₦12,400 as of March 2024, the lowest in the country.
