Adeye is The African Exponent's West African Correspondent based on Abuja, Nigeria. He covers all West African Stories that matter with a slick African style.
85% of Africans who work do so informally, the highest rate on Earth, against a world average of about 58%. Only about 15% hold a formal job. The ILO's new brief says informal workers power African trade but have almost no voice in the policies that govern it.
Sudan leads Africa with 14 coup attempts since 1960, Burkina Faso turned 9 of its 10 into takeovers, and 7 of the top 10 are West African. Full ranking, Powell and Thyne data to August 2026.
Equatorial Guinea's Teodoro Obiang has ruled for 47 years. The top two African presidents have held power for 91 years combined, twice as long as ranks 8 to 10 put together. Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, Ghana and Tanzania do not make the top 10.
Chart of the Day: Sending $200 to Sub-Saharan Africa costs 8.46% on average, $16.92 of every $200. It is the highest price of any region in the world, on the World Bank's latest figures.
UN projections put Nigeria at 359.2 million in 2050, with DR Congo overtaking Egypt and South Africa sliding to ninth. These are projections, not counts, from UN World Population Prospects 2024.
Johannesburg still leads Africa with 11,700 resident dollar millionaires in June 2025, but six South African cities take 33,200 of the top 10 total of 50,700, while Lagos, West Africa's richest city, sits only seventh with 3,600.
Egypt received $41.5 billion in 2025, more than ranks 3 to 10 combined, as Africa's diaspora sent home $124 billion. Here are the 10 countries that received the most diaspora remittances, ranked on the latest available figures for each country.
The eight East African Community economies together are worth $490.9bn in 2026, IMF projections show, $104.3bn more than Nigeria and just ahead of South Africa. But per person, Nigeria is still richer.
Tunisia leads Africa with a life expectancy of 76.7 years, ahead of Algeria and Seychelles, in a ranking built on the latest World Bank and United Nations figures for 2024.
From a 99.2% wipeout in Zimbabwe to a 50% overnight reset across the CFA zone, these are the sharpest single currency devaluations Africa has seen, measured on one consistent basis.
Mauritius leads Africa in the World Happiness Report 2026, with a life evaluation score of 5.939 out of 10. Libya and Algeria follow, while eight of the top ten score at least 5.0.
Flutterwave leads a fintech-heavy top 10 worth about $17.4 billion in total. Most of the valuations are years old, and one famous former unicorn does not make the cut. Here is what each figure actually rests on.
Shoprite employs 174,430 people, nearly double third placed Pick n Pay and far ahead of every rival except Bidvest. Nine of the ten biggest private employers are headquartered in South Africa, and Egypt's Orascom Construction is the only exception.
Djibouti has Africa's highest youth unemployment at 76.8%, with more than three in four young jobseekers out of work. South Africa, Eswatini and Libya follow in this 2026 edition, ranked on ILO modelled estimates for 2025.
Chad has the worst roads in Africa, scoring 1.9 out of 7, and three of the five worst road networks on earth are African. From Mauritania to Nigeria, this 2026 ranking of Africa's worst roads names the countries where driving is hardest, with the survey data behind every score.
Seychelles tops Transparency International's latest Corruption Perceptions Index with 68 out of 100. Only four African countries score above 50, and island nations dominate the top ten.
