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Business Opportunities for Nigerians During COVID 19

by Ilashe Otuogbai

May 8, 2020 2

Desperate times call for desperate measures. In a time like this when there might be an economic recession due to the pandemic, so many people might be considering alternative business opportunities.

Believe it or not, certain entrepreneurs are thriving in these times and some are improving themselves a great deal. Any business owner who plans to survive this pandemic should also have plans as to how their businesses would survive as well.

For those who are thinking of business ideas at this moment, here are some you can consider:

1. PRODUCTION AND SALE OF ESSENTIAL MATERIALS: Things considered to be essentials now are all things that are directly related to the pandemic. Things like hand sanitizers, face masks, hand gloves, bleach and many more are the rave of the season. Chinese suppliers of hair and other products immediately started selling face masks as the pandemic became global. During this time, essential materials are very important and getting authentic ones recommended by relevant authorities would help in selling them faster.

2. FOOD BUSINESS: You can take out the time to learn more about food production if you already have an idea. You can also partner with a food production company to distribute for them or to come up with unique ideas that people would buy into. E.g. Neatly packaging food and delivering to people who aren’t able to cook at home or do not have the time. People need to eat. Foodstuffs is also another thing you can look at during this period.

3. DELIVERY SERVICES: In Lagos state, due to the ban of motorcycles from federal roads and some specified roads in the state motorcyclists popularly known as okada men were rendered jobless. A number of their bikes were converted to delivery bikes to maintain their usefulness, it can never a total loss if you think outside the box. Due to the lockdown placed in Lagos, Lagosians have been hindered from going about their daily activities which includes buying and selling, that is where delivery services come in. You may not have enough money to buy a bike now but you can locate a bike man who has been affected by the ban and partner with him.

4. SALE OF PROVISIONS: Certain locations may not need this, but a couple of places would. If you live in an area that is not already saturated with retail stores you can become a retailer of provisions. For instance, it is quite obvious that before anyone would buy makeup during this pandemic they must have eaten. You could get a supplier and sell a few food items or even have a specific market and grow in the business.

5. TELECOMMUNICATION: In the past few weeks, it is obvious that people have bought data and credit more than ever before in order to stay connected with others virtually. Billions of naira has been consumed by Nigerians. Tiktok has become the trending application for making video, this equals data, this equals airtime. Registering with VTU companies can help you have a portal through which people buy airtime, pay Dstv subscriptions, buy data and so on.

There are many other business opportunities you can consider now due to the pandemic. Some are not so expensive to start, others might be.

In all of these, remember to take necessary precautions and stay safe.