How Nigerians Are Making Money Online

Nigeria’s economy is generally a middle-income, mixed type one, combining a blend of private and state-owned businesses to produce an annual nominal GDP of $514 million. That figure makes it the world’s 27th largest economy and Africa’s top one. From 2000 to 2012, the country’s buying strength almost tripled. It now ranks as the 24th on the planet regarding purchasing power parity.

Naturally, a lot of this has to do with improvements in Nigeria’s telecommunications sector over this past decade, which dramatically improved internet penetration in the country. DataReportal claims that from 2020 to 2021, the number of Nigerian internet users grew by 22% (19 million). Hence, it is clear that with widespread internet access, Nigeria will likely become a booming tech hub, plus a vast technological market.

In May 2021, Lagos-based payment processor Flutterwave announced that it raised $170 million in venture capital investments. And in October 2020, the Irish-American company Stripe acquired Paystack, the famous Nigerian payment processor, for more than $200, expanding its services in Africa. All this is proof of the digital revolution currently taking place in Naija, as an ever-growing section of its population is earning a sizeable chunk, if not all, of their income online.

Completing Online Surveys

The global online survey software market boasted an estimated $5 billion in 2020, and projections now state that it will start pulling in close to $4 billion more per year by 2026. Online polls help businesses make better decisions on how to run their operations, and without a doubt, they are one of the simplest ways anyone can make money over the internet. All one has to do is answer pages of questions concerning something they have experience with, or, in some cases, none at all. Most platforms offering such a service also require users to perform tasks other than answering questionnaires to earn rewards. These may include watching videos and playing games. Also, they primarily pay via e-wallets, cryptos, or gift cards on a weekly or monthly basis. TimeBucks, TGM Panel, and SurveyTime are among the most popular survey sites that thousands of Nigerians use daily.

Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is a performance-based advertising system where a company rewards its affiliates depending on how many customers they bring in within a set timeframe. Anyone can be an affiliate, even individuals, as all that matters is that they can drive business to a service/retail store. Currently, most research market firms believe that entities in this sector generate around $12 billion in global revenues per year. Multiple affiliate marketing niches are tremendously popular, with online iGaming being particularly lucrative, even though affiliates do not target local players. Per online reviews, the best affiliate marketing programs in Nigeria include Expertnaire, Jumia, Konga, PayPorte, and Wakanow. They all supply above-average referral commissions.

Freelancing as a Virtual Assistant & Tutor

Allied Market Research believes that the global virtual assistant market will hit a global size of $44 billion by 2027, growing at an annual rate of 37%, while Grand View Research thinks that the virtual tutoring one will be raking in 6.4 billion per year. Of course, both of these spheres got significantly boosted by the global COVID-19 pandemic, causing them to flourish everywhere. The same holds for Nigeria, where online hubs like CityTutors, ChatClass, Tuteria, and PrepClass, have prospered over the last two years. Demand for virtual assistants in Nigeria has also dramatically increased, with the number of Nigerian candidates for such jobs jumping substantially on freelance sites like Truelancer and Upwork.

Trading Cryptocurrencies

For the past half a decade, cryptocurrencies have been all the rage in Nigeria. In 2017, Bitcoin trading in Naija rose by 1,500%, and globally, per data from LocalBitoin, it trailed behind only China. Year after year, the crypto craze grew in Nigeria, causing the Central bank, in February 2021, to bar all local financial institutions from working with cryptos. Yet, that only seems to have increased many Nigerians’ appetite to keep trading cryptos, as in August 2021, the national cryptocurrency transaction volume hit a record $44.4 million. Thus, it seems like restricting exchanges from accessing the banking system only encouraged crypto activity to go back to where it initially thrived – underground. Although fragile, the Nigerian crypto industry has adjusted to the banking ban and is prospering.

Copywriting

In the Western World, copywriting refers to creating content for marketing purposes designed to generate sales. However, in Nigeria, it also encapsulates SEO and general content writing. That is a profession that consists of copy/content writers providing articles, reviews, and product descriptions to online businesses. Excellent English is mandatory for those hoping to advance in this sphere, growing at an annual rate of 16%. Copywriting opportunities are available on Upwork, Freelance, and other sites.