If you're an entrepreneur or investor looking to invest your money with good returns, the following are smart investment opportunities in Nigeria that you can leverage on.
Real estate
People are always going to need homes, apartments, residences, office spaces etc. Rather than piling your money up in the bank, invest in real estate. You can buy a land in a good location, give it time to appreciate and sell at a much higher price, or rent out an existing property. If you don't want to go through the ups and downs of running a real estate development business, you can simply invest the development shopping malls, residential apartments, events and conference halls etc.Livestock Farming
This is one of the fastest growing business opportunities in Nigeria especially with the federal government's ban on the importation of live or frozen poultry beds. It's generally a booming business in Nigeria and with the 17+millions mouths to feed, there will always be demand of livestock. The major challenges of this venture are lack of technical know-how and use of crude equipment, which hampers the industry's growth, however if you have the adequate knowledge and patience to nurture this venture, you will reap immensely.AGRICULTURE
Nearly one third of all employed Nigerians find themselves working in the agricultural sector, which is one of the country’s main foreign exchange earners. The Nigerian government has set up incentives to help modernize and mechanize their agricultural industry. Not only will locally grown foodstuffs be promoted on behalf of the investor, business and enabling companies may receive the pioneer company status and qualify for tax incentives.Subsidies on fertilizer and zero import duties on raw materials needed to manufacture livestock feed are some of the other incentives to attract investors to this sector. Another is the release of grants from the Raw Materials Research and Development Council for research and development that leads to the greater domestic use of Nigeria’s raw materials.
Telecommunication
The Nigerian
Communications Commission (NCC) was established in the year 1992. The
organization was established to regulate the performance of this sector.
The government by the Decree 75 in that same year allowed the
participation of the private sector in this industry. Further
enhancement of the industry was done by the government when it deleted
all the provision which inhibited the competition in this industry.
Even after these reforms
the telecommunication industry in Nigeria is far from being developed. A
dearth of infrastructural facilities is a major constraint on the
services provided to the existing and potential customers. Therefore
urgent need to expand the infrastructures in this sector is felt. The
telecommunication sector plays an important role in the economic,
social, political, cultural and in fact overall development of a
country’s society and properly integrates it into the international
community. This desired expansion cannot be achieved under the present
dispensation where the needed equipment is usually imported. While
importing Nigeria faces problems of foreign exchange procurement,
freighting cost, long delivery period etc. There is therefore no other
realistic option than to use the locally manufactured equipment and
spares.
Energy Sector
In both Oil and Gas
industry, a band shift in prices has been witnessed due to the supply
tightness and growing demand. A secure form of supply is therefore a
priority issue for the global oil and gas industry as well as
governments.
The country’s
aspiration in the oil and gas industry is anchored on 2 key elements.
One being capacity growth and secondly the economic integration of the
industry with the macro-economy of Nigeria. There is an aggressive
development of National Content Agenda to facilitate manufacturing and
industrial capacity growth. The Marginal Fields initiative is to
stimulate local participation. The government is looking for
opportunities in developing retail outlet, private sector participation
in product marketing, refinery performance improvement.
The electricity
market in Nigeria continues to offer lucrative investment opportunities
to potential investors with record revenue earnings of $2.038 billion
(N259.08-billion) projected in 2010.And potential local and
international investors are being advised to speedily invest in this
market to take advantage of the existing investment incentives. Last
year’s earnings alone have been calculated at $714 million
(N9.07-billion, is the result of the privatization efforts of the
federal government.
Coal Mining
Given the
implications that continued power shortages have for the Nigeria
economy, coal mining seems to be an area of immediate development
concern, especially considering that Nigeria has proven deposits of over
1.5 billion tons, after only partial exploration. The advantages of the
coal mining industry, is that though it is open to mining companies,
the government is not dependent on them. Thermal power-generating
companies would happily takeover the responsibility of developing
coalmines since it would automatically, build fuel linkages with their
power generating plants. A focus on developing coal mines will also
speed up development of the power infrastructure, since plants will come
up at the pithead to avoid haulage costs and the national grid will
also get built up to transmit power across the country.
The Nigerian
government declared 2007 as the minerals and mines year to augment the
visibility of the mining sector in the country to lay the ground work
for constructive community engagement and participation in minerals
development and reaffirm the strategic implications of the sector and
redouble efforts to develop the sector. A major thrust of the new
mineral policy is the emphasis on private sector participation in the
exploitation of solid minerals and in the sustainable development of the
local communities.
Online Education
The Internet has become an
increasingly viable delivery system for online education and training
courses. Online courses reduce corporate clients’ costs and lost time.
Many Nigerians are in need of education and training to enhance their employ ability. Develop your own online education business or market
courses through an established online education provider.
Fast Food Franchising
Franchises are increasingly
popular in Nigeria. Major franchise corporations like Domino’s Pizza,
Kentucky Fried Chicken, and Juice Zone, are eager to invest in Nigeria.
Sewing of uniforms
There are over 500 schools (both Crèche, primary and secondary)
in Lagos state alone; and each of these schools have a specific uniform
or attire for their students. Okay, let’s look beyond educational
institutions. Do you know that other individuals and corporate organizations are in need of uniforms for their security personnel, staff, etc?
There are also a lot or military (Army, Air Force, Navy), paramilitary (Civil Defense Corps, Police Force) and non-paramilitary (Road Safety, Traffic Warden, Kick against Indiscipline, Vigilante groups, etc) organizations in Nigeria that make use of uniforms. You can position yourself as a uniform supplier and make money from it.
Recruitment Agency
The labor market is becoming tougher and there are over
five million unemployed youths in Nigeria. Another hard fact is that
companies are no longer employing full time in-house staff; they are now
using the services of recruitment agencies to employ people based on
contract basis.
This strategy is aimed at reducing
the cost of doing business by avoiding the cost of conducting a
recruitment exercise and also avoiding employee claims and benefits.
This is the sole reason why banks and other companies are sacking their
workers on daily basis.
So rather than fight the
trend, why not profit from it by setting up a recruitment agency and
connect job-seekers to their dream jobs. You can also be a corporate
executive headhunter and make money poaching competent staff from one
company to another. If this is too capital intensive for you, then you can setup a resume writing service from home and profit from the trend.
Outsourced bus service
This is another form of haulage business, but this time you will be lifting humans. This is a business that requires providing transportation services to organizations that cannot afford to buy a vehicle in-house. Your clients in this case can be schools, religious organizations, NGOs, corporate bodies, etc.Some corporate organizations can’t afford an in-house transport system for its executives and staff, so this is where you come in. You provide the cars or buses, provide the drivers and you are paid on a monthly bases or contract bases for the use of your transport services.
Another area of target is schools. Most schools would like to provide transport facilities for their students but they can’t afford it and this is where you come in. You provide a bus service system and send out a proposal to schools to use your bus services. Just imagine 20 or more young schools jointly using your student bus service system and you will catch the vision of this idea.
Daycare center
The
demand for quality childcare service is increasing daily. Parents are
now working harder just to generate enough income to keep the family
going, thus leaving them with less time for the children.
Now
to be honest with you, there are a lot of daycare centers existing but
only a few are providing exceptional services; and parents that cherish
their kids are never comfortable leaving their kids in a child care center whose environment is dirty. If you can come in with exceptional
service and creativity, you will make money from this business. Another
thing you must know is that you can start this business from home.
Now
for those who lack the capital and experience to setup a full-scale
childcare center, you can still make profit of this niche by starting a small scale babysitting service or Nanny agency
Waste Management
Waste management is another business with a future potential because Nigerians are yet to imbibe the habit of proper waste disposal.
However, states like Lagos have been doing a lot to encourage proper
waste disposal and management. Now there are several businesses you can
start within the waste management niche and these include waste recycling, waste disposal, junk hauling, organic fertilizer production, etc.
Cold Room (Frozen Food)
Despite the high number of livestock farmers in Nigeria, frozen fish and chicken are still being smuggled into the country through the border because there is a market for it. Some people don’t want to go through the stress of killing and preparing fowls for eating, so they prefer to buy ready-made frozen birds. With the right plan and a strategic location, you can make millions by investing in building and operating a cold room.In conclusion, the investment opportunities in Nigeria are not limited to the list above. With a little digging and research, you will surely uncover more of these opportunities. However, the point I want to stress is that having the capital to invest in these opportunities does not mean you will succeed at it.
More important than your capital and the business opportunity is to make sure you have adequate understanding about the industry you intend investing in. Knowledge and experience are the prerequisites for low risk investing.
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