15 easy ways of making money in Nigeria today

With the recession still biting, we’ve made a quick-fire list of 15 easy ways of making money in Nigeria today…

#1 House Sit in Abuja

What would you say if I told you that you can make easy money from simply sitting in someone else’s home and doing nothing?
The phenomenon of “housesitting” while someone is abroad is long established in Europe through services such as TrustedHouseSitters are starting to take off in Nigeria too.
One top tip is to advertise around the foreign embassies in Abuja – embassy staff tend to spend long amounts of time on assignments outside of Nigeria and often look for house sitting services.

#2 Start a Modelling Career

Nigerian models such as Agbani Darego or David Agbodiji have become fabulously wealthy through modelling. Check out commercial modelling agencies in Nigeria such as YRay Models.
Remember that these modelling agencies will want to see at least one head-shot and one body-shot. Get a friend to help you take photos that will win you highly lucrative modelling contracts.

#3 Set Up a Pawn Shop

In tough economic times, people need money quickly and one option is to receive a loan from a pawn shop in return for leaving valuable items as “collateral”.
If the loan can’t be repaid, the pawn shop keeps the collateral plus interest.
If you are on the hunt for easy ways of making money in Nigeria, we recommend that you set up your own pawn shop and benefit from this recession-proof business.

#4 Build a Mobile App

Orin, Nigeria Dictionary and IrokoTV are all examples of successful apps set up by Nigerian entrepreneurs.
If you have a fun or unique idea for an app, then what are you waiting for?
There will be some up-front development and marketing costs. But once you build a successful app, you will be able to make easy money from advertising and affiliate marketing.

#5 Establish a Car Wash

Some of our readers have asked us how to make money in Nigeria without spending a dime?
One freaking awesome idea is to set up a car wash. All you need is a water source, soap and sponges.
Ok, perhaps this will cost more than a dime (a few thousand Naira is more likely). But establishing a car wash has to be one of the easiest ways of making money online in Nigeria.

#6 Buy and Sell .NG Domains

Did you know the most expensive domain name ever sold was insurance.com? The price tag was a cool $35.6 million.
The most valuable .com websites were snapped us long ago, back in the 90s. But plenty of .ng domain names in high-value niches remain available.
If the future of the Internet will be built in Africa, as Mark Zuckerberg believes, then such domain names could grow in value big time.

#7 Create a Delivery Service

Everybody knows that traffic jams in Lagos are horrendous. I mean, really horrendous. But there’s money to be made from the congestion and headache of the commuter rush.
You may not have considered this but businesses are ready to pay big bucks for delivery services. It doesn’t matter whether you’re delivering pizzas or industrial machinery, all you need is a vehicle and a lot of patience.

#8 Become a Nairabet Agent

Online gambling is taking off big time in Nigeria and one of the best sites around is Nairabet.
A truly easy way of making money in Nigeria today is registering as a Nairabet agent.
Nairabet agents are responsible for registering bets from customers. In return, these agents receive a share of Nairabet’s profits. All you need is a personal computer, printer, fast Internet and access to a generator.

#9 Trade Gold

In tough economic times, the value of gold rises.
The good news for you is that there’s big money to be made from trading gold. The goal is to buy from the public at below-market prices and sell to the trade for profit (hint: Ajeniya Street in Lagos is an excellent place to sell gold).
You can purchase gold at low prices where people need to sell, whether that’s due to divorce, death or bankruptcy. Another option is to find gold by taking up metal detecting (see tip # 16 below).
All you will need to get started is a gold-testing kit, scales and a magnifier loupe.

#10 Start a Catfish Farm

Could setting up a catfish farm be the answer to your financial woes?

I admit that starting a Catfish farm in Nigeria wasn’t the first idea that came to mind when we started writing this article. But before you dismiss the idea out of hand, just think for a moment about how much Catfish pepper stew is eaten each year in Nigeria!
When you consider that Catfish may be reared in a warm climate and in inland pools, perhaps this doesn’t sound like such a terrible idea. Wealth Result has an excellent piece on how to get started with small scale Catfish farming in Nigeria. There are high costs involved with getting started so this is a project that you could consider doing together with friends or family.

#11 Set Up a Server Farm

Maybe setting up a Catfish farm isn’t your thing but how about owning a server farm?
Internet servers are simply the physical location where bytes on the Internet are stored. Most Nigerian web-masters rely on servers based overseas due to a lack of web hosting companies in Nigeria.
The problem with this approach is that hosting a website thousands of miles away from its users can slow down the performance of the website and affect SEO.
eMarketer claims that Nigeria’s Internet market is about to witness explosive growth due to the adoption of inexpensive, low cost smartphones. The huge demand for Nigerian server farms in the years to come will offer great opportunities for making money in Nigeria.

#12 Become a Social Media Star

Instagram and other social media sites allow Nigerians a way to earn easy money by attracting big audiences. This is a tried and tested way of earning money online in Nigeria.
Take Dami Olatunde AKA the Aphrican Ape, a US-based Nigerian, who has close to 400,000 followers on his Instagram account because of his comedy videos on African family life.
If you want to follow in Dami’s footsteps, try and think of a niche to focus on and build up your audience. Once you have a decent following, you can reach out to advertisers and make easy money by promoting their products.

#13 Get an Oil and Gas Job

Everyone knows that oil and gas companies pay very high wages. If you can bag yourself a job in this industry, you are well on your way to making money in Nigeria.
Perhaps it’s little surprise that in Jobberman’s survey of the best companies to work for in Nigeria. In fact, five of the top ten companies were in the oil and gas sector (Shell, Chevron, Mobil, NNPC and Total in case you were wondering…).
The only slight problem is that competition for such jobs is fierce. If you’re looking for a foot in the door, one idea is to apply for a university scholarship.

#14 Pack Your Bags and Move to Dubai

When times get tough at home, sometimes it’s worth looking to see what opportunities are available abroad.
Ok, we admit that this isn’t strictly speaking a way of making money in Nigeria. But Dubai is one of the most popular destinations for Nigerians working overseas.
The trick is managing to secure employment from Nigeria and then the prospective employer will secure your resident visa and work permit. This is easier said than done but opportunities do sometimes crop up, such as these driving, security and maintenance jobs advertised by Linda

#15 Become a Life Coach

Are your friends constantly telling you how great your advice is?
If so, you may be able to start making money in Nigeria through life coaching.
A life coach aims to give guidance and counselling to people as they make major transitions in their lives. There is formal (yet expensive) training available through organisations such as the International Coach Federation.
A better option is to find an existing life coach and have him or her mentor you until your able to set out on your own.