How to make money in Nigeria - Part 2 - Tips to Make Money in Nigeria

Posted by Felix Okoli on Tuesday April 24, 2012 13:20:54:

Understanding the Nigerian environment
You don't have to leave Nigeria before becoming a success story. It is funny that a lot of people would want to leave Nigeria to go abroad and succeed just because they feel that their efforts will never be fruitful in this country. They should remember the saying, "No country like home".

You can make it in Nigeria if you really want to and if you really believe that you can.

One of the things that can help you make money in Nigeria is your understanding of the environment. In this context I'm not just talking about the physical but also the social environment. You need to understand how people live and react, know their needs and wants.

Here are certain factors that are identifiable to Nigeria and can help your business
- Hot climate
- Oil based economy
- Large population mostly youthful
- Short life span
- Low literacy rate
- High child mortality rate
- Strong moral values
- Highly religious views
- Strong family bonds
- Love for western goods
- High poverty rate
- Most active internet country in Africa
- Democratic government
- Member of ECOWAS
- Member of OPEC
- Low real estate investment despite low regulation
- Low level of exports despite govt incentives
- Legal issues

Nigerian factors as opportunities
Most of those factors I've listed above can be seen as business opportunities for people who can provide the answers or solution.

For instance, in a hot climate, how do you make money? Provide cooling, water and so on. In a large population how do you make money? Simple, start factories with cheap labour. In a country with a large number of people dying before 60, you can make money by providing and marketing health products. You can engage in exports, agriculture and so on and still be able to make a lot of money in Nigeria.
So there are always opportunities to make money in Nigeria but the problem is that people are too lazy. They want to be like the white man but they don't know that white men worked hard to get where they are. Even foreigners who leave their country to come to Nigeria still worked hard just to run their successful businesses because they've seen the opportunities that most of us still don't see.

Legal issues
If you intend running a successful business in Nigeria, you also need to know some basic things about the law such as what is acceptable and what is not. Boundaries exist in every environment and knowing how to work within them can help you a lot.

Comments:

Re: How to make money in Nigeria - Part 2 Reply by Augustine Achudume on Saturday April 28, 2012 at 12:20:55:

I like your courage in lightening the path for others to excel. Kudos! I need such mails in my mailbox above, please.

Re: How to make money in Nigeria - Part 2 Reply by Barbara on Tuesday May 8, 2012 at 19:18:28:

Please help, can I import cutlery, plates, wine glasses etc into Nigeria? Do I need an import licence. I just came across a job lot that the owner wants to get rid of very fast. Thank you.

Re: How to make money in Nigeria - Part 2 Reply by Felix Okoli on Tuesday May 8, 2012 at 19:18:28:

Go to https://www.customs.gov.ng/ProhibitionList/import.php to see a list of things you are not allowed to import into Nigeria

Shop online in Nigeria