Living Abroad? Here are 10 Ways to Invest in Nigeria for Passive Income

Are you a Nigerian living abroad but looking to make investments back home?

If yes, then that's the right way to go.

Even though investing in Nigeria from abroad comes with its own hurdles, it's probably far easier and more flexible to invest back home than in the country where you currently reside.

There are a variety of investment options to choose from and you can decide to invest in installments depending on available capital.

In this post, I want to highlight a few ways any Nigerian living abroad can start investing for passive income in Nigeria, especially if you won't be on ground and want to invest via a proxy.

Here's hoping you try out one of them and build a passive income net that consistently put money in your bank.

Here are some investment and business ideas for diasporans looking to invest back in Nigeria.

Government Bonds

Government bonds or Treasury bonds is one of the easiest and safest investment vehicles in Nigeria as well as globally.

If you're new to the world of investing and want to invest for the long-term, then it's just better to put your money into government bonds.

Government bonds pay periodic dividends known as coupons, and these coupons could be substantial depending on how much you invest.

So, if you're looking to receive a substantial passive income on a consistent basis, then you have to invest substantially in Treasury bonds.

Transport Partnerships

Transportation is one of the best investments you can make in Nigeria if you want a steady stream of income.

The good news is that you can invest in the Nigerian transport sector from abroad, and make your money without being on ground.

With companies like Uber and GiGm, offering enterprise partnership opportunities, you can purchase and add a vehicle to their fleet, and they will manage everything for you.

What they do is hire drivers for the vehicles you add to their fleet, and then share revenues with you.

All you have to do is monitor your earnings from their enterprise platform to view your periodic earnings and start cashing out.

Isn't that cool?

Airbnb Apartments

You could put money into leasing or acquiring apartments for Airbnb and start a short let business.

All you have to do is get an apartment in a choice location, furnish it to standard taste, and then list it on the Airbnb platform.

You'll need to have a manager on ground though, who'd be responsible for managing customers and the business needs.

But the good thing is, you can manage sales and get paid directly from the Airbnb platform.

Tech Investment Syndicates

With the rise and growth of the tech ecosystem in Nigeria over the last 10 years, investors are now willing to put in more funds in the industry than ever before.

Likewise, new tech companies are springing up faster than before, and many of them require startup funding to take their products to market or expand their reach.

Through syndicates, you can join other investors who are investing in these tech companies, with the aim of capital gains in the future.

While investing in tech companies comes with it's own risks, some tech companies have been able to deliver X10 or even X100 of investor's fund if everything goes as planned.

Investing via a tech investment syndicate drastically reduces the risk of losses, as you'll be investing with other seasoned investors who have strong industry contact and experience.

One of such syndicates in Nigeria is Tekedia Capital which grants access to their investment deals via a yearly membership fee of $1,000.

A yearly membership of Tekedia Capital grants you access to 4 investment cycles and an opportunity to co-invest in young innovative companies in Nigeria and abroad.

A perfect opportunity for Nigerian investors in the diaspora.

Nollywood Pre-markets

Nollywood pre-markets is a great opportunity to invest in the Nigerian movie industry right from your base abroad.

The Nollywood pre-markets involves purchasing movie licenses from movie producers and then monetizing those videos any way you can.

This is a very viable business as shown by the huge capital invested by companies such as Netflix, IrokoTV, and ROK TV in the last few years, albeit in a large scale.

You can start investing in Nollywood pre-markets and acquiring movie licenses in a small scale just like the individual marketers at Alaba International.

Acquired movies could be reproduced and marketed directly to customers or uploaded to platforms like YouTube and monetized via display ads.

In recent years, YouTube is now becoming a viable channel for Nollywood producers to make money from their movies, with movie fans in Nigeria preferring the freemium model rather than paying to watch.

Fintech Apps

If you are looking to invest in Nigeria for the short-term, then you can try out some fintech apps in Nigeria.

There are a few apps in Nigeria where you can invest for a yearly ROI of up to 20%.

Some of them include Piggyvest, Opay, Branch, Fairmoney, etc. Interestingly, Piggyvest pays you an upfront ROI, which is great if you want to reinvest earnings.

It is important to do your research before locking up funds, as your investment decision should be based on your short-term needs.

While some people invest to preserve the value of their capital, others are looking to create a stream of passive income from a group of investment portfolios.

Rental Properties

This is arguably the default way most diasporans invest back in Nigeria, so why not just add it to the list?

Rental properties not only offer a stable investment but a long-term appreciating asset that could be passed on to the next generation.

If you have a trusted family member or associate back in Nigeria, you can invest in a rental property and use for it either residential or commercial purposes.

Of course, it would be easier to manage a residential property from abroad, but if you have a trusted and experienced associate, you could opt to go the commercial way.

Storage Facilities

In recent years, storage facilities have increasingly become an area of demand for logistics companies in Nigeria.

Suppliers and distributors are now seeking safely equipped and independently managed storage facilities across the country with the aim of creating distributed supply chains to quickly deliver goods to customers.

This creates an opportunity to invest in storage facilities such as cold rooms, warehouses, showrooms, greenhouses, etc, for various kinds of products and supplies.

Many logistics companies in Nigeria would rather lease these kinds of storage facilities rather than invest to own one from scratch.

And that is where you come in.

You could invest in building a storage facility and hand it over to a management team or company who will be responsible for managing the facility and remitting payments to you on a periodic basis.

Vehicle Importation

This is another thriving business among Nigerians in the diaspora looking to make money from Nigeria.

If you have access to cheap car deals in the country where you reside, you could easily buy and import those cars into Nigeria and sell them for profit.

All you need to do is create a partnership with a reputable car dealership in Nigeria or a trusted ally back home to help you clear the vehicle from the ports and market it.

You could negotiate a sharing formula on the profit, which at least makes it a worthwhile venture for you.

For example, if you can negotiate a profit of $3,000 after total costs for each vehicle, then it means that you can easily make a net profit of $30,000 on 10 cars imported.

If you can do up to 100 cars per year, then that a respectable income of $300,000 per year.

Very astute business if you ask me.

International Services

I've always maintained that living outside Nigeria presents you with many opportunities that would rather have been lost if you were in Nigeria.

That means you can offer several international services back home and make money for yourself.

For example, a few web and mobile platforms for important services are not accessible from Nigeria. You could offer a service that helps Nigerians register accounts with such services for a small fee.

Some of these services include:

Foreign business registrations
Payment services
International fundraising
Registering foreign social media accounts

You could also offer export agency services that helps Nigerians facilitate export business deals with foreign companies in need of raw materials.

The opportunities for making money in Nigeria just by leveraging your foreign-based location are just enormous that it takes just a little probing to find a lucrative area of demand.

To get more ideas on available opportunities to make money in Nigeria as a diasporan, simply talk to and listen to Nigerians on forums and social media.

Who knows, you might just find one great idea or opportunity that changes everything for you.

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