Business and Investment opportunities in Lagos Nigeria

Lagos known locally as eko (ay-co) is the heart beat of Nigeria. The center of excellence, the official slogan of the territory governed by the Lagos State government, is a region measuring more than 3,000 square kilometers. Lagos Nigeria is referred to as the center of excellence owing to its breeding of the brightest and the best of Nigeria’s Labor force.

Population and demography

Officially Lagos Nigeria is believed to have a population of over 10 million (figure from the Nigeria population commission’s census of 2006 which was not so smoothly conducted). However, unofficial figures estimate the population of Lagos to be anywhere between 13 million and 17 million strong. Most Lagos Nigeria residents (55 to 60%) are from the Yoruba speaking ethnic group of South West Nigeria with the remainder being Nigerians from other parts of the country and foreigners being less than 2% of the population.

Economy

Lagos Nigeria is a land of opportunities with virtually equal opportunities open to every Tom, Don and Harry to exploit. It is no wonder Lagos is sometimes called no man’s land. The economy of Lagos Nigeria is largely service based with a good number of lagos businesses engaging in services such as construction, Information and communication technology, transportation and maritime services, commerce, consumer manufacturing, real estate, retailing, banking and finance (covering retail banking and micro finance, insurance and asset management), publishing, media services among others. Also a number of micro businesses thrive in the state with many markets accommodating them. The bulk of Nigeria’s service based businesses are based on the Island.

Entertainment capital

Lagos is also the entertainment capital of Nigeria with the Nollywood (Nigeria’s version of Hollywood), music and other entertainment related interests being based in that part of the country. Very famous and accomplished Nigerians in entertainment such as RMD, Genevieve Nnaji, Banky W, Dbanj, 2face idibia among others have come to see Lagos Nigeria as not only a hotspot for plying their trade but as home away from home (with the exception of Banky W who is a Lagos indigene). Nigeria’s entertainment industry is one of the fastest growing industries in the world.

Opportunities in Lagos Nigeria

A number of opportunities are open to all and sundry to exploit in Lagos Nigeria. That includes foreigners and expatriates from any country of the world. Residents of Lagos Nigeria are generally welcoming people with that, there will be little or no ill treatment suffered to anyone wishing to start or commence a productive venture in this part of the world.

Real estate

One area that offers vast opportunities is real estate. Prices of houses and rent in Lagos are growing so fast that in 2 or 3 years time they could be almost twice as high as they are currently going for. This is because Lagos is a densely populated area with a fast growing population and an ever expanding economy that owning property in this part of the world does not only make you a landlord but possibly financially independent. Houses and rents are not cheap in this part of Nigeria especially in prime locations like Ikoyi, Lekki, Ikeja and Victoria Island.

Transportation

With a large population needing to commute on a day to day basis, there are vast opportunities for investors to provide commuter transportation services to the population. People commute to their work places from Mondays to Fridays and even on Saturdays when most people don’t work there are still many social functions happening around the state. That means big business for transportation services especially road transportation.

Commercial Services

Provision of commercial services to a teeming population such as technology infrastructure and equipment like Information and technology facilities for commercial and non commercial purposes is just one area of commerce that the teeming population of Lagos Nigeria can do with. Life in Lagos Nigeria is so hectic that services which alleviate stress will be affectionately patronized.

Education

Educational services such as provision of secondary and boarding facilities, university placement and admission services, excursion services among others, there exist opportunities to offer quality academic training for Nigeria’s bright future assets (its children and youths).

Commerce

Trade and commerce are very much thriving ventures in Lagos Nigeria. There exist large markets and commercial centers that

Labour

Compared to developed economies, labour in Lagos is very cheap with average monthly salary for regular staff employed in the formal sector falling within the range of N 30,000 and N 100,000 (roughly between $200 and $700). Most people earn below N 100,000 a month but in industries such as telecoms, oil and gas (especially the upstream sector but also the downstream sector from where we have petroleum exploration, petroleum refinery and marketing), banking and finance as well as media services especially public relations and advertising there are people who earn much more than that in some cases as much as ($20,000 a month).

Tourist Attractions

A number of tourist attractions exist in Lagos Nigeria such as Badagry beach, Wools worth Park, the silverbird galleria, even very busy locations like markets and bus stops are also tourist destinations.

Infrastructure

There has been a massive improvement in infrastructural development in Lagos Nigeria starting especially in 2007 following the assumption of office of the incumbent governor Raji Fashola, road and transportation systems have improved tremendously with the introduction of massive transit systems like the bus rapid transport system (BRT), repair and construction of street lights along major highways, upgrading of public schools and repair of water supply systems, improved refuse and sewage deposal and beautification of the state.