South Africa's GDP was estimated at just over 403 billion U.S. dollars in 2024, the highest in Africa. Egypt followed, with a GDP worth around 380 billion U.S. dollars, and ranked as the second-highest on the continent. Algeria ranked third, with about 260 billion U.S. dollars. These African economies are among some of the fastest-growing economies worldwide. Dependency on oil For some African countries, the oil industry represents an enormous source of income. In Nigeria, oil generates over five percent of the country’s GDP in the third quarter of 2023. However, economies such as the Libyan, Algerian, or Angolan are even much more dependent on the oil sector. In Libya, for instance, oil rents account for over 40 percent of the GDP. Indeed, Libya is one of the economies most dependent on oil worldwide. Similarly, oil represents for some of Africa’s largest economies a substantial source of export value. The giants do not make the ranking Most of Africa’s largest economies do not appear in the leading ten African countries for GDP per capita. The GDP per capita is calculated by dividing a country’s GDP by its population. Therefore, a populated country with a low total GDP will have a low GDP per capita, while a small rich nation has a high GDP per capita. For instance, South Africa has Africa’s highest GDP, but also counts the sixth-largest population, so wealth has to be divided into its big population. The GDP per capita also indicates how a country’s wealth reaches each of its citizens. In Africa, Seychelles has the greatest GDP per capita.

Seychelles had the largest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita in Africa as of 2024. The value amounted to 21,630 U.S. dollars. Mauritius followed with around 12,330 U.S. dollars, whereas Gabon registered 8,840 U.S. dollars. GDP per capita is calculated by dividing a country’s GDP by its population, meaning that some of the largest economies are not ranked within the leading ten. Impact of COVID-19 on North Africa’s GDP When looking at the GDP growth rate in Africa in 2024, Libya had the largest estimated growth in Northern Africa, a value of 7.8 percent compared to the previous year. Niger and Senegal were at the top of the list with rates of 10.4 percent and 8.3 percent, respectively. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the impact on the economy was severe. The growth of the North African real GDP was estimated at minus 1.1 percent in 2020. However, estimations for 2022 looked much brighter, as it was set that the region would see a GDP growth of six percent, compared to four percent in 2021.
Contribution of Tourism Various countries in Africa are dependent on tourism, contributing to the economy. In 2023, travel and tourism were estimated to contribute 182.6 billion U.S. dollars, a clear increase from 96.5 in 2020 following COVID-19. As of 2024, South Africa, Mauritius, and Egypt led tourism in the continent according to the Travel & Tourism Development Index.

This dataset provides values for GDP reported in several countries. The data includes current values, previous releases, historical highs and record lows, release frequency, reported unit and currency.

South Africa concentrated the largest amount of private wealth in Africa as of 2021, some 651 billion U.S. dollars. Egypt, Nigeria, Morocco, and Kenya followed, establishing the five wealthier markets in the continent. The wealth value referred to assets, such as cash, properties, and business interests, held by individuals living in each country, with liabilities discounted. Overall, Africa counted in the same year approximately 136,000 high net worth individuals (HNWIs), each with net assets of one million U.S. dollars or more.

 COVID-19 and wealth constraints  

Africa held 2.1 trillion U.S. dollars of total private wealth in 2021. The amount slightly increased in comparison to the previous year, when the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic led to job losses, drops in salaries, and the closure of many local businesses. However, compared to 2011, total private wealth in Africa declined 4.5 percent, constrained by poor performances in Angola, Egypt, and Nigeria. By 2031, however, the private wealth is expected to rise nearly 40 percent in the continent.

 The richest in Africa 

Besides 125 thousand millionaires, Africa counted 6,700 multimillionaires and 305 centimillionaires as of December 2021. Furthermore, there were 21 billionaires in the African continent, each with a wealth of one billion U.S. dollars and more. The richest person in Africa is the Nigerian Aliko Dangote. The billionaire is the founder and chairman of Dangote Cement, the largest cement producer on the whole continent. He also owns salt and sugar manufacturing companies.

This dataset provides values for CORRUPTION RANK reported in several countries. The data includes current values, previous releases, historical highs and record lows, release frequency, reported unit and currency.

Mauritius is classified as the most democratic country in Africa. As of 2023, Mauritius' democracy was given **** points, ranking as the only country in the whole continent as fully democratic. The index is based, according to the source, on the electoral process and pluralism, the government functions, political participation, and culture as well as civil liberties. Many Sub-Saharan and North African political systems are among the least democratic countries in the world. Burundi has the most authoritarian regime in Africa, with a score of **** points, while countries such as Botswana, Cabo Verde, South Africa, Namibia, and Lesotho fell within the "hybrid regimes", with a score ranging from **** points to **** points, meaning that they experience, for example, elections with irregularities, widespread corruption, and harassment of journalists. Democracy and freedom of speech in Sub-Saharan Africa One of the main key indicators of democracy is the ability of individuals to express their opinions freely. African countries varied strongly when it came to freedom of speech, for instance, countries Mauritius, Namibia, and Cabo Verde had high scores in both the democracy index and the civic space openness index in the last years. On the other hand, countries like Djibouti and Equatorial Guinea had relatively low scores in the same indices. Furthermore, in the last few years, several Sub-Saharan African countries faced a huge decline in the freedom index as well, with * out of the ** African countries with the largest decline in the freedom index being from this region. Africa divided: which region had more democracy? North African countries showed poor scores in the democracy index as well. Two-thirds of the countries in this region had a score below * points, indicating authoritarian rule. Even the countries with the highest scores in this region have relatively low scores compared to countries in the Sub-Saharan region.

Under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, international financial assistance is expected to support African and other developing countries as they prepare for and adapt to the impacts of climate change. The impact of this finance depends on how much finance is mobilized and where it is targeted. However, there has been no comprehensive quantitative mapping of adaptation-related finance flows to African countries to date. Here we track development finance principally targeting adaptation from bilateral and multilateral funders to Africa between 2014 and 2018. We find that the amounts of finance are well below the scale of investment needed for adaptation in Africa, which is a region with high vulnerability to climate change and low adaptation capacity. Finance targeting mitigation (US$30.6 billion) was almost double that for adaptation (US$16.5 billion). The relative share of each varies greatly among African countries. More adaptation-related finance was provided as loans (57%) than grants (42%) and half the adaptation finance has targeted just two sectors: agriculture; and water supply and sanitation. Disbursement ratios for adaptation in this period are 46%, much lower than for total development finance in Africa (at 96%). These are all problematic patterns for Africa, highlighting that more adaptation finance and targeted efforts are needed to ensure that financial commitments translate into meaningful change on the ground for African communities. Key policy insightsBetween 2014 and 2018, adaptation-related finance committed by bilateral and multilateral funders to African countries remained well below US$5.5 billion per year, or roughly US$5 per person per year; these amounts are well below the estimates of adaptation costs in Africa.Funders have not strategically targeted support for adaptation activities towards the most vulnerable to climate change African countries.Lessons from countries that have been more successful in accessing finance point to the value of more sophisticated domestic adaptation policies and plans; of alignment with priorities of the NDC; of meeting funding requirements of specific funders; and of the strategic use of climate funds by national planners.A low adaptation finance disbursement ratio in this period in Africa (at 46%) relates to barriers impeding the full implementation of adaptation projects: low grant to loan ratio; requirements for co-financing; rigid rules of climate funds; and inadequate programming capacity within many countries. Between 2014 and 2018, adaptation-related finance committed by bilateral and multilateral funders to African countries remained well below US$5.5 billion per year, or roughly US$5 per person per year; these amounts are well below the estimates of adaptation costs in Africa. Funders have not strategically targeted support for adaptation activities towards the most vulnerable to climate change African countries. Lessons from countries that have been more successful in accessing finance point to the value of more sophisticated domestic adaptation policies and plans; of alignment with priorities of the NDC; of meeting funding requirements of specific funders; and of the strategic use of climate funds by national planners. A low adaptation finance disbursement ratio in this period in Africa (at 46%) relates to barriers impeding the full implementation of adaptation projects: low grant to loan ratio; requirements for co-financing; rigid rules of climate funds; and inadequate programming capacity within many countries.

The population in Africa is expected to grow by 90 percent by 2050. Among the countries forecast to be the most populated in the continent, Nigeria leads, with an estimated population of over 401 million people. Currently, the nation has already the largest number of inhabitants in Africa. The highest population growth is expected to be measured in Angola, by 143.3 percent between 2019 and 2050. The number of inhabitants in the country is forecast to jump from 31.8 million to 77.4 million in the mentioned period.

Context

This project analyzes the 2020 World Happiness Report to draw conclusions about the general well being of Africa. It uses several CSV files consisting of survey responses formed from a Google Form survey, data from the 2020 World Happiness Report and data on countries only in Africa from the 2020 World Happiness Report. The main data set used includes over 150 countries and their happiness scores, freedom to make life choices, social support, healthy life expectancy, regional indicator, perceptions of corruption and generosity. This analysis was done to answer the following data-driven questions: 'Which African country ranked the happiest in 2020?' and 'Which variable predicts or explains Africa's happiness score?'

This project includes several programs created in R and Python.

Background

The Gallup World Poll (GWP) is conducted annually to measure and track public attitudes concerning political, social and economic issues, including controversial and sensitive subjects. Annually, this poll tracks attitudes toward law and order, institutions and infrastructure, jobs, well-being and other topics for approximately 150 countries worldwide. The data gathered from the GWP is used to create an annual World Happiness Report (WHR). The World Happiness Report is conducted to review the science of understanding and measuring the subjective well-being and to use survey measures of life satisfaction to track the quality of lives in over 150 countries.

At first glance, it seems that world happiness isn't important or maybe it's just an emotional thing. However, several governments have started to look at happiness as a metric to measure success. Happiness Scores or Subjective Well-being (SWB) are national average responses to questions of life evaluation. They are important because they remind policy makers and people in power that happiness is based on social capital, not just financial. Happiness is often considered an essential and useful way to guide public policies and measure their effectiveness. It is also important to note that happiness scores point out the importance of qualitative rather than quantitative. At times, quality is better than quantity.

Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent in the world. It consists of 54 countries meaning that Africa has the most countries. Africa has approximately 30% of the earth's mineral resources and has the largest reserves of precious metals. Africa reserves over 40% of the gold reserves, 60% on cobalt and 90% of platinum. However, Africa unfortunately has the most developmental challenges. It is the world's poorest and most underdeveloped continent. Africa is also almost 100% colonized with the exceptions of Ethiopia and Liberia. Given this information, one can wonder what the SWB or state of happiness is in Africa?

This site analyzes the 2020 World Happiness Report to draw conclusions to data-drive questions listed later on this page. The focus is specifically on countries in Africa. Even though there are 54 countries in Africa, only 43 participated in the 2020 WHR.

Content

The dataset used is generated from the 'World Happiness Report 2020'. This dataset contains the Happiness Score for over 150 countries for the year of 2020. The data gathered from the Gallup World Poll gives a national average of Happiness scores for countries all over the world. It is a annual landmark survey of the state of global happiness.

This dataset is from the data repository "Kaggle". On Kaggle's dataset page, I searched for Africa Happiness after filtering the search to CSV file type. I wasn't able to find any datasets that could answer my questions that didn't include other countries from different continents. I decided to use a Global Happiness Report to answer the questions I have. The dataset I am using was publish by Micheal Londeen and it was created on March 24, 2020. His main source is the World Happiness Report for 2020.

Variables

Happiness score or subjective well-being (variable name ladder ): The survey measure of SWB is from the Feb 28, 2020 release of the Gallup World Poll (GWP) covering years from 2005 to 2019. Unless stated otherwise, it is the national average response to the question of life evaluations. The English wording of the question is “Please imagine a ladder, with steps numbered from 0 at the bottom to 10 at the top. The top of the ladder represents the best possible life for you and the bottom of the ladder represents the worst possible life for you. On which step of the ladder would you say you personally feel you stand at this time?” This measure is also referred to as Cantril life ladder, or just life ladder in our analysis.

Healthy Life Expectancy (HLE). Healthy life expectancies at birth are based on the data extracted from the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Global Health Observatory dat...

The Africa Oil Country Tubular Goods (OCTG) market is experiencing robust growth, driven by increasing oil and gas exploration and production activities across the continent. A compound annual growth rate (CAGR) exceeding 5% indicates a significant expansion, projected to continue throughout the forecast period (2025-2033). Key drivers include rising energy demand, substantial investments in upstream oil and gas infrastructure development, and the ongoing exploration of new reserves in Nigeria, Angola, and Algeria. Premium grade OCTG dominates the market due to the need for high-performance materials in demanding operational environments. However, the market faces restraints such as price volatility in commodity markets, geopolitical instability in some regions, and the increasing adoption of alternative energy sources. While precise regional breakdowns are not available, Nigeria, with its established oil and gas industry, likely holds the largest market share, followed by Angola and Algeria. Major players like ArcelorMittal SA, Jindal Saw Ltd, and Tenaris SA are actively competing in this lucrative market, focusing on product innovation and strategic partnerships to enhance their market position. The market's growth trajectory underscores the increasing importance of Africa as a significant player in the global energy landscape. Further analysis would benefit from detailed regional data to provide a more granular understanding of market dynamics within each country. The forecast period (2025-2033) presents significant opportunities for OCTG manufacturers and service providers. The continued expansion of oil and gas production, especially in deepwater and challenging environments, necessitates advanced OCTG solutions. This demand drives innovation in materials science and manufacturing technologies, leading to the development of lighter, stronger, and more corrosion-resistant products. The market’s segmentation by grade (premium and API) highlights the diverse needs of operators, indicating specialized product offerings are crucial for success. Companies seeking market entry should leverage partnerships with local players and focus on adapting their products to the specific challenges and opportunities presented by various African nations. Analyzing regulatory frameworks and infrastructure limitations is also vital for successful market penetration. The long-term growth potential remains high, contingent on continued investments in exploration, production, and infrastructure development across Africa's oil and gas sector. Notable trends are: Premium Grade OCTG to Dominate the Market.

As of 2022, cash was the main payment method used in online retail in Morocco, Kenya, and Egypt, accounting for ** percent, ** percent, and ** percent of the total, respectively. On the other hand, cash was not that prevalent in South Africa, where ** percent of e-commerce payments occurred by card, and ** percent by bank transfer. In Nigeria, most digital buyers used card-based payments (** percent) and bank transfers (** percent). Cash is still the most popular payment method The majority of the transactions in Africa occur in ****. Most countries on the continent rely significantly on ****, which is frequently used also in informal economies. Since credit cards are still not common in Africa, other payment methods are usually preferred. The same applies to online retail. When purchasing online, customers often use *************************. Despite country-specific differences, cash remains the leading payment method in Africa. Nevertheless, the use of mobile money has been growing significantly in recent years. In 2021, Sub-Saharan Africa was the leading region by number of mobile money accounts worldwide. This payment method represents a huge potential for digital payments in a continent where a limited share of the population owns a bank account. E-commerce growth in Africa E-commerce in Africa has been rapidly expanding in recent years. This growth was due to several factors, including demographic trends as well as the increasingly higher levels of internet penetration. On the continent, online retail generates the highest revenues in Nigeria, South Africa, and Kenya. **************************************** are among the leading online marketplaces, all local websites. Founded in Nigeria in 2012, ***** was the most popular e-commerce platform by number of visitors. The number of online shoppers in Africa is forecast to increase in the coming years to exceed *** million by 2025.

The Africa Two-Wheeler Market is segmented by Propulsion Type () and by Country (South Africa, Rest-of-Africa). The report offers market size in both market value in USD and market volume in unit. Further, the report includes a market split by Vehicle Type, Vehicle Configuration, Vehicle Body Type, Propulsion Type, and Fuel Category.

Thirteen countries on the African continent have managed to qualify and play in the various FIFA World Cups taking place throughout history. Cameroon was the most successful national team in Africa. The Indomitable Lions participated in ***** different tournaments in the most prestigious soccer competition globally. Morocco and Nigeria followed, featuring *** times each. Egypt took part ***** times and was the first country to ever qualify in 1934. Furthermore, Morocco achieved the best performance, reaching the semi-final in Qatar 2022.

Contrary to trends in the U.S. or Europe, where the lion’s share of ad budgets is focused on internet and TV marketing, between 2018 and 2020 the majority of advertising dollars in Nigeria will be devoted to TV and video promotion. In developed markets internet advertising expenditures are expected to surpass TV, however, in Nigeria TV advertising is and will remain strong in the near future. The second most popular ad medium in the country is out-of-home, which is also projected to grow in the three years. Internet is ranked third based on advertising spending. Advertising market in Nigeria   
Mobile phone services were the largest advertising category in Nigeria in 2017, which is not surprising as the country relies largely on mobile communications. Personal classifieds and corporate communications, banking and finance and cable TV closed the list of top five advertising categories in Nigeria. Consequently, MTN, Airtel and Globalcom (all telecommunications companies) ranked second, third and fifth respectively based on their advertising expenditures in the country. The largest advertiser in Nigeria in 2017 was Sundry Food Services, a parent of several restaurant brands.
Nigerian advertising compared to other African countries    Nigeria is one of the largest advertising markets in Africa: in 2017 Nigerian ad revenue reached 425 million U.S. dollars. The only two countries that generated more in ad revenues that year were South Africa and Morocco – 2.7 billion U.S. dollars and 820 million respectively. However, markets such as Algeria, Kenya, Ghana, Tanzania and Tunisia all ranked below Nigeria’s results.

As of 2022, Nigeria had nearly 84 million internet users. This figure is projected to grow to 117 million internet users in 2027. Moreover, internet penetration amounted to over 38 percent of the population in 2022 and is set to reach 48 percent in 2027.

Internet usage in Nigeria

Nigeria is one of the most populous countries worldwide. As of 2023, there were almost 64 million mobile internet users in Nigeria. Mobile phone internet usage is particularly popular. The country is considered a mobile-first market where infrastructure and online usage development skipped wide-ranging desktop PC adoption and went straight to mobile internet usage via inexpensive smartphones. With more than three-quarters of Nigerian web traffic being generated via smartphones, Nigeria ranks eighth on the list of African countries based on the share of traffic via mobile. Other African markets with a similar share of mobile online traffic are Mali, Gambia, and the Central African Repiblic.

Internet freedom in Nigeria

According to the Freedom House Index, Nigeria ranks fourth in Africa with Malawi , registering 60 index points in the internet freedom index in 2023. The country has very strong libel laws. Subsequently, Nigerian internet users do not often feel free to express themselves online fully.

The North-African nation Egypt ranked first among the African countries with the most international tourist arrivals, accounting for almost **** million arrivals in 2023. Following in second place and third place were Morocco and Tunisia, which received around **** million and *** million arrivals, respectively.    Which is the top tourist spot?  Egypt ranked first in terms of international tourism receipts in 2023, which amounted to approximately **** U.S. dollars. Morocco, South Africa, and Tanzania followed, with international tourist receipts of around **** billion, *** billion, and *** billion U.S. dollars, respectively. Furthermore, Egypt, Morocco, and South Africa have been the three leading countries since 2019. Regarding the Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI) in Africa in 2024, which measures factors and policies that make a country eligible for investments in the travel and tourism sector, South Africa, Mauritius, and Egypt held the top spots. South Africa received a TTCI score of **** out of seven, while Mauritius and Egypt received **** and **** points, respectively. Comparatively, Botswana and Kenya came in next.

South Africa's total Imports in 2024 were valued at US$101.24 Billion, according to the United Nations COMTRADE database on international trade. South Africa's main import partners were: China, India and Germany. The top three import commodities were: Mineral fuels, oils, distillation products; Machinery, nuclear reactors, boilers and Electrical, electronic equipment. Total Exports were valued at US$110.11 Billion. In 2024, South Africa had a trade surplus of US$8.87 Billion.

Between 1957 and 2024, Egypt was the most successful national team, having won the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) seven times. Cameroon and Ghana followed achieving five and four titles, respectively. Moreover, nine other African countries managed to secure the title once. The 34th edition took place in Côte d'Ivoire with Côte d'Ivoire managing to secure their third title after winning Nigeria in the final.

Nigeria has the largest population in Africa. As of 2025, the country counted over 237.5 million individuals, whereas Ethiopia, which ranked second, has around 135.5 million inhabitants. Egypt registered the largest population in North Africa, reaching nearly 118.4 million people. In terms of inhabitants per square kilometer, Nigeria only ranked seventh, while Mauritius had the highest population density on the whole African continent in 2023. The fastest-growing world region Africa is the second most populous continent in the world, after Asia. Nevertheless, Africa records the highest growth rate worldwide, with figures rising by over two percent every year. In some countries, such as Niger, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Chad, the population increase peaks at over three percent. With so many births, Africa is also the youngest continent in the world. However, this coincides with a low life expectancy. African cities on the rise The last decades have seen high urbanization rates in Asia, mainly in China and India. However, African cities are currently growing at larger rates. Indeed, most of the fastest-growing cities in the world are located in Sub-Saharan Africa. Gwagwalada, in Nigeria, and Kabinda, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, ranked first worldwide. By 2035, instead, Africa's fastest-growing cities are forecast to be Bujumbura, in Burundi, and Zinder, Nigeria.

As of 2023, Niger registered the agricultural sector's highest contribution to the GDP in Africa, at over ** percent. Comoros and Ethiopia followed, with agriculture, forestry, and fishing accounting for approximately ** percent and ** percent of the GDP, respectively. On the other hand, Botswana, Djibouti, Libya, Zambia, and South Africa were the African countries with the lowest percentage of the GDP generated by the agricultural sector. Agriculture remains a pillar of Africa’s economy Despite the significant variations across countries, agriculture is a key sector in Africa. In 2022, it represented around ** percent of Sub-Saharan Africa’s GDP, growing by over *** percentage points compared to 2011. The agricultural industry also strongly contributes to the continent’s job market. The number of people employed in the primary sector in Africa grew from around *** million in 2011 to *** million in 2021. In proportion, agriculture employed approximately ** percent of Africa’s working population in 2021. Agricultural activities attracted a large share of the labor force in Central, East, and West Africa, which registered percentages over the regional average. On the other hand, North Africa recorded the lowest share of employment in agriculture, as the regional economy relies significantly on the industrial and service sectors. Cereals are among the most produced crops Sudan and South Africa are the African countries with the largest agricultural areas. Respectively, they devote around *** million and **** million hectares of land to growing crops. Agricultural production varies significantly across African countries in terms of products and volume. Cereals such as rice, corn, and wheat are among the main crops on the continent, also representing a staple in most countries. The leading cereal producers are Ethiopia, Nigeria, Egypt, and South Africa. Together, they recorded a cereal output of almost *** million metric tons in 2021. Additionally, rice production was concentrated in Nigeria, Egypt, Madagascar, and Tanzania.