Students often Google “how to make money online in Nigeria as a student” in an effort to learn how to earn and thrive in this tough economy. I’m sure you’ve read a lot of lengthy, boring blogs that don’t tell you how long it takes to succeed and generate money online in Nigeria on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis.
However, there are numerous things you can do online to make money as a student in Nigeria that are also applicable to other African students and require no expertise to accomplish successfully.
But I will list the ones that you can start today and begin to make money with.
So, do you want a list of successful online business opportunities that need little or no initial funds to get started?
If so, this is the article for you.
Before we dive into the post, let me give you an overview so you know the online business opportunities you can take advantage of right away.
No. | Business Opportunities | Capital Needed | Low CN | Higher CN |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Local Arbitrage in Nigeria | Yes | 10,000 to 20,000NGN | No |
2 | Local Dropshipping In Nigeria | No | No | No |
3 | Make Money Online in Nigeria Blogging | Yes | 30,000 to 50,000NGN | No |
4 | Social Media Management | No | No | No |
5 | Online Tutoring In Nigeria | No | No | No |
6 | Make Money Online As a YouTuber | No | No | No |
7 | Sell eBooks Online (Amazon KDP) | No | No | No |
8 | Affiliate Marketing | No | No | No |
9 | Printing and Registration Services | Yes | No | 120,000 to 150,000NGN |
10 | Virtual Assistant | No | No | No |
11 | Video Editing | No | No | No |
You can make money online in Nigeria at least N100,000 monthly when you follow one or more of the opportunities in the table above.
Local Arbitrage in Nigeria

buying low and selling high
Mini importation is similar to local arbitrage in Nigeria. You do product research in your area at a cheap price in order to sell at a higher price in another area.
Local arbitrage is the practice of purchasing something at a cheap price in one location and selling it at a higher price in another location.
It’s something that everybody can do.
It only takes a little knowledge and a few funds to start generating money from home using local arbitrage.
Essentially, this implies “buying low and selling high.” For the same item, various markets have different pricing points.
To start, you would need 10,000 to 20,000 NGN. Go to where you can find cheap products or wholesalers and buy the needed quantities, then resell them for a higher price. You can find sellers online at www.jiji.ng or go to Lagos Island for more options.
If you are not a Nigerian, you can do the same in your country.
Local Dropshipping In Nigeria

Dropshipping is a way to run an online business in which goods are not kept in stock and you can make money. Instead, they let customers place orders online, which they then send to the right retailer or wholesaler.
Dropshipping is a form of eCommerce business strategy in which businesses sell items without keeping any inventory on hand.
When a business owner gets a customer’s order, he or she contacts the supplier, who then ships the merchandise right to the customer’s door. Dropshipping is an excellent way to start the eCommerce industry with little to no initial expenditure.
As a student, you can start this venture with little to no investment and only focus on how to promote products using social media such as Facebook, WhatsApp, etc.
To start, you can call or meet with the seller to have an agreement on the prices, logistics, and many more. Take good photos or make videos of the products; this way, you can easily promote them online. The interesting part is that you can brand the product, and when the customers receive the products, they remember your brand name.
You can dropship with any product, find the right products and sell them.
Make Money Online in Nigeria Blogging
Blogging is the oldest and most popular way to generate money online in Nigeria.
You may make money by blogging if you have patience and persistence. All you have to do is write and publish new, fresh, and compelling articles; once you have visitors, you can monetize it with Google AdSense or other ad networks.
As I previously stated, blogging takes time and effort to create a consistent income but when done correctly it becomes long term passive income.
There are several factors to consider if you plan to make money blogging. It is no longer necessary to write about what you are passionate about; trust me, you will soon give up.
You must master search engine optimization and do keyword research to choose the best niche for your blog or the next topic to talk about. So conduct thorough research.
To start, it will cost you between 30,000 to 50,000 NGN to purchase a domain, host your blog, and install WordPress as the platform on which to operate your blog.
You can start with blogspot or wordpress.com where you do not need to host or buy a domain—there are limitations. I will strongly recommend you buy a domain and host your blog; this way, you will have full control of your blog.
Social Media Management

The practice of maintaining your online presence on social media platforms is known as social media management. Social media managers (you) will write and post content, connect with users, and measure performance using your experience and tools.
It is therefore a process of developing, posting, and evaluating information posted on social media platform such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, as well as connecting with people on such networks. Free and paid tools, can help you expedite social media management responsibilities.
It is much easier using tools that will post in your absence when you schedule your contents.
To start, you must learn how to use tools that will enable you to schedule posts, which will post to all social media accounts you handle in your absence. You can get hired by businesses in Nigeria to run their social media accounts, and if you do a good job, they will pay you.
The salary starts from 30,000NGN. Imagine you have more than 3 clients.
Online Tutoring In Nigeria

Online teachers now have a lot of new options thanks to the Internet, including some lucrative career paths. Many different kinds of tutoring are highly valued in the field of online education, from helping people learn a new language to coaching, helping with schoolwork, or teaching at a private institution.
Online tutoring, often known as “virtual tutoring,” is the process of providing instruction to students in a networked or digital environment, with only physical distance and time between the tutor and student.
The Internet’s versatility is on full show in this approach to education and training for professionals.
You can work with many students as an online teacher, and you will make enough money to support yourselves while you are in school.
The cost of an online tutor for one kid in the event of the COVID19 outbreak was around 10,000 NGN, and this was possible even from Whatsapp.
To start, put yourself out there so parents would know you can teach their children. You can use Whatapps, Facebook, etc.
Make Money Online As a YouTuber

Today, funny scenes can go viral without much work, and you can earn from YouTube before you say “Jack Robinson.” Youtude is the second largest online platform in the world.
Starting a YouTube channel where you upload videos about what you’re good at is one of the quickest methods to earn income as a student in Nigeria.
Comedians can upload skits, and mathematicians can stream themselves solving complicated equations; either way, all you have to do is open a YouTube channel, build an audience, apply for monetization, and you can start making money every month.
The unique daily users worldwide is 2.6 Billion and the total video watch hours per day is 1 Billion. The number of videos watched per day 5 Billion.
The numbers is enough to encourage you to start YouTude channel and earn yourself some income.
To start, you go to www.youtude.com and simply create a channel for FREE.
Sell eBooks Online (Amazon KDP)

Selling ebooks online, either your own website or through other means, is a great way to easily and simply generate money online. Among all products that may be sold online, eBooks have the lowest barrier to entry. The time required to make an eBook is minimal.
To make your own premium information product and sell it online for a profit, you will need step-by-step direction.
To start, you can use Microsoft Office to create your ebook and then convert it to PDF format for free. Then you can upload and sell on Amazon KDP. Amazon KDP is free to use; all you have to do is sign up for an account and fill out all the necessary information.
Affiliate Marketing

In affiliate marketing, publishers promote a product or service offered by a different merchant or advertiser in exchange for a commission. When an affiliate partner helps a shop or advertiser get what they want, the affiliate gets a commission.
A sale is the typical end result. In contrast, some affiliate programs pay out for things like generating leads, signing up new users for free trials, attracting visitors to a website, or even app downloads.
Joining an affiliate program typically doesn’t cost anything, so you can skip the expensive preparation phase. Affiliate marketing, if done right, can turn your online side business into a full-fledged, six-figure cash cow.
To start, you can sign up for any affiliate program listed below.
Some affiliate programs you can do
- Jumia
- Konga
- Amazon
- Shopify
- ShareASale
- Clickbank
- CJ Affiliate
Printing and Registration Services

To help students complete online registration at your hostel is a profitable enterprise for students.
Today, many school applications and registrations are done online.
These online registrations are as simple as they can be. However, most students don’t have a laptop or printer with which to complete the registration process.
That is where you come in, you can obtain the equipment required to do the online registration at your hostel. Students will come to you since it will be convenient for them at the hostel to do business with you.
So you can see that printing and online registration can earn you a lot of money.
To start, you need to do some promotion, such as with flyers or a bulk SMS, to let other students know about your services.
You will need more capital because you will need a laptop, stable and fast internet, printer and A4 papers.
This will cost you around N120,000 to N150,000.
Virtual Assistant

A virtual assistant, or VA, is a freelance worker who does administrative tasks for customers remotely. A virtual assistant can work from home as long as they can get to the planning materials they need, like shared calendars, from anywhere.
Virtual assistants typically have worked in administrative support or office management for several years prior to being hired.
Those with experience in social media, content management, blog writing, graphic design, and online marketing might find new work as virtual assistants. Skilled virtual assistants are projected to be in higher demand as more people and businesses become comfortable with the concept of remote work.
A virtual assistant’s day-to-day tasks are defined by the requirements of their client and the conditions of their contract. Some virtual assistants deal with administrative and financial work, while others may maintain social media accounts or create blog posts on a regular basis.
The services of a virtual assistant may be expanded to include booking flights, hotels, and other accommodations, as well as making and keeping appointments, entering data, and managing files in the cloud.
For starters, you’ll need the ability to provide administrative services. Here, I’ll go through a handful of must-have abilities and the best resources for acquiring them.
- Logo Design
- Graphics Design
- Excel Spreadsheet
- Voice over
- Web development
- Website Design
- Copywriting
- Video Editing
- Translation
Free platform you can learn and quip yourself with the right knowledge.
- YouTube
- Coursera
- Udemy
- Medium
- Udacity
- Codeacademy
- Alison
- Code Avengers
- CodeSchool
- W3school
- Khan Academy
Video Editing

The term “video editing” refers to the process of manipulating and arranging recorded video. Video editing is the process of putting together and showing things like movies, TV shows, commercials, and essays that are on video. Editing software for home computers has greatly increased video’s accessibility in recent years.
Technology has grown to help people with the hard and time-consuming task of editing videos.
To begin, you may practice with various tools online, and there are sites where you can learn for free. Making a living by editing videos is a viable option in Nigeria.
Conclusion
In Nigeria, there are several ways to earn money online. In the post, I just listed a handful. If you’re still here, it shows you’re serious about earning money and supporting yourself while in school.
I highly suggest you to choose one, test it out, and make it work for you. To succeed in any business, you need the right mindset.
Please share your thoughts with me. Drop your comments.