Untapped Business Ideas in Nigeria

Untapped business is another name for societal needs that are yet to be met by market players. There are demands for such products and services, but very little supply is available to the market. That means there is a significant gap in the market.

In most cases, due to the shortfall in the market, such businesses are always very lucrative, especially when the market demand is still significantly high.

So, as a business owner in Nigeria, I would pay attention to this article as it contains a list of businesses in Nigeria with many people seeking more coverage.

This article gives you access to some highly lucrative yet untapped business ideas in Nigeria.  

Having a lucrative business in Nigeria can be very exciting, especially when such a business is very lucrative and unsaturated – welcome to the land of the untapped market segments in Nigeria.

I have grouped these businesses into sectors for easy identification.

Contents

The Groups of Untapped Businesses in Nigeria are:

  1. Renewable Energy
  2. Agriculture
  3. Food
  4. Clothing
  5. Technology
  6. Housing

1. Alternative Power Source for Homes

Alternative Power Source for Homes
Photo by Chelsea on Unsplash

One of Nigeria’s most recurrent campaign promises by all the administrations post-military era has been the “Improved Power Supply” project. And from all indications, politicians would include it in the 2023 elections campaign promises as it has remained an unmet promise.

Nonetheless, as an entrepreneur, such an unmet need creates a much-needed business opportunity to explore and make a good return on investment, especially in an industry such as energy – an industry with many clients.

Reports by Electricity Generating Companies reveal that the average power supply in Nigeria is 3,851MW, which is not even enough to serve Lagos effectively.\

All that tells you is that the power problem in Nigeria is not changing anytime soon, and the scenario leaves us all with alternative power sources for homes and businesses.

Some alternative energy sources that you can use in your homes and businesses include renewal energy sources such as biofuels, solar power, wind energy, biomass energy, etc.

The market for renewable energy is enormous, with Solar Energy taking the lead here in Nigeria. Asides from Solar, you could participate in the biofuel market, which doesn’t require much capital to get started and promises a very high return on investments.

Here are some of the ways you can be a part of the renewable energy business:

Solar Powered:

  • The assembly and installation of solar installations
  • Sales of solar panel parts
  • Solar panel maintenance
  • Sales, installations and assembling of other peripheral equipment such as inverters, charge controllers, etc.

The four items above make up the core businesses in the solar panel industry, and market entry requirements for any of them is pretty low.

Estimated Capital for Alternative Power Source for Homes

  • N3,500,000

Projected ROI on Alternative Power Source for Homes

  • The projected annual Return on Investment for a solar power installation business is over 190%.

2. Waste Management Business

untapped business ideas in Nigeria, lucrative business ideas, untapped online business ideas, untapped business ideas, business ideas in nigeria
Photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash

A United Nations report estimated that over 11 billion tons of waste are collected all over the world generating $140 billion. And since Nigeria is a developing country, we are definitely a significant producer of wastes.

In Nigeria, about 50 billion plastic bags are used every year

Also, according to Going Green Recycling Company, here are some waste management data that might interest you

  • Every hour, approximately 200,000 plastic bags are land-filled
  • A family of four uses an average of 1,500 plastic bags in a year
  • At least 267 different species of marine life are adversely affected by plastic pollution
  • 225 million tons of non-biodegradable plastics are produced annually worldwide that destroy our environment continuously
  • A single-use plastic bag has an average life span of 12 minutes, and destructive span of about 1,000 years

This business, though seemingly dirty, has what it take to make you immensely rich as not so many are looking its direction.

What most people don’t know is no waste is absolute waste. Animal dung are used as fertilizers; plastics and polythenes can be recycled to make other plastic products. So, the next time you see those plastic drink bottles and the rest in your gutters, what you are seeing is…

untapped business ideas in Nigeria, lucrative business ideas, untapped online business ideas, untapped business ideas, business ideas in nigeria

You can become a part of this industry in three different ways:

  • Direct waste management
  • Middle-man waste management
  • Recycler

Estimated Capital for Waste Management Business

  • Direct waste management: N2,000 upward
  • Middleman waste management: N30,000 – N50,000
  • Recycler: N25,000,000 upward

Projected ROI on Waste Management Business

  • Direct waste management: N150,000 (monthly)
  • Middle man waste management: N300,000 (monthly)
  • Recycler: Over N20,000,000 annually

3. Foodtruck or Container Business

untapped business ideas in Nigeria, lucrative business ideas, untapped online business ideas, untapped business ideas, business ideas in nigeria
Photo by Brett Sayles from Pexels

Imagine having a 9-5 job in Lagos Island and living in Lagos Mainland? You have to live home very early in the morning and return home late in the night, every day.

Now, that’s what an average Lagosian is going through. And the story is almost the same in Abuja and other major cities in the country.

This means that an average working-class person in Nigeria doesn’t have enough time to cook breakfast or dinner. That leaves them with the option of eating out.

There are several options for them when it comes to eating out. The famous eateries with unnecessarily expensive food; the mama put with cheap food but not so clean environment, and then there are food trucks that seem to balance it all but then, it’s relatively scarce.

And that’s why it’s one of the untapped business opportunities in Nigeria that you should consider.

There are varieties of food options to consider for this business. You can choose to do softcore such as coffee, snacks, tea and all. Or you can go all-in by doing Nigerian meals such as jollof rice, fried rice, yam and egg, indomie noodle and so on.

But I can’t cook. Honestly, that’s the least of your worries in 2020. You can take a short course on cooking the meals you intend to sell. Or watch a couple of Youtube videos and experiment a couple of times.

The location of your business should influence your choice of food.

And talking about location, it’s essential that this business is located around industrial or work environment, and not residential areas for obvious reasons.

One of the most exciting parts of this business is that it is cost-effective in the long run. You can cut by almost 70% because you don’t need to make sitting arrangements so you’d need less space.

Estimated Capital for Foodtruck or Container Business

  • Food truck: N2,000,000 – N5,500,000
  • Miscelleneous expenses: N100,000 – N200,000

Projected ROI on Foodtruck or Container Business

  • Monthly: N200,000
  • Annually: N2,500,000

4. Organic Farming Business

untapped business ideas in Nigeria, lucrative business ideas, untapped online business ideas, untapped business ideas, business ideas in nigeria
Photo by Karolina Grabowska from Pexels

One of the most exciting parts of this business is that you’d rarely run out of funds because the government is always willing to support agriculture and so are banks too.

Nigeria may be a giant of Africa in many things but not agriculture, at least not anymore.

The world has evolved in terms of agriculture, and Nigeria has a lot of catching up to do. And that’s where you come in with your organic farming.

There is a high demand for organic food worldwide. So, let’s go farming.

Estimated Capital for Organic Farming Business

  • N400,000 – N1,500,000

Projected ROI on Organic Farming Business

  • About 70% of Capital

5. Domain or Website Flipping

untapped business ideas in Nigeria, lucrative business ideas, untapped online business ideas, untapped business ideas, business ideas in nigeria
Photo by Christina Morillo from Pexels

Do you know you can build a website from scratch and resell it? Well, yeah, you can. That’s what website flipping entails.

Online is the new market, and every business is trying to build its store there. They obviously need websites and would be willing to pay a reasonable amount for it.

Now, this involves being tech-savvy and having some coding skills. So, if you know your way around coding and can successfully build a website, this is for you.

You can make up to 300% of the money spent on creating a website from selling it. Now, that’s a lot of money. But as lucrative as this business is, it is up there as one of the most untapped business ideas in Nigeria.

Some sites make it easy and fast to flip websites when you’re done building. Afternic, Freemarket and Flippa are among the popular ones.

For those that can’t write codes, you can still create WordPress blogs and resell. Yeah, you don’t need to be a web developer to create WordPress blogs. A couple of Youtube videos or maybe a short course is all you need to get started.

Estimated Capital for Domain or Website Flipping

  • N2,000 – N200,000

Projected ROI on Domain or Website Flipping

  • N400,000 – 1,000,000 over time

Most lucrative business ideas in Nigeria

This is a list of the most lucrative businesses in Nigeria between the years 2010 till date. What is also most fascinating is that these businesses are not just lucrative, they are also fast selling.

  1. Oil and Gas business
  2. Logistics and Mail Distribution
  3. Petrol Station
  4. Cooking gas business
  5. Kerosene business
  6. Snake farming
  7. Cattle farming
  8. Palm oil business
  9. Cassava farming
  10. Poultry farming
  11. Snail farming
  12. Food Franchises
  13. Local restaurants
  14. Foreign and intercontinental restaurant
  15. Food supply business
  16. Blogging Business
  17. Real Estate business
  18. Furniture business
  19. Hotel business
  20. Transportation business
  21. Social media marketing
  22. Fashion business
  23. Online Video business
  24. Dry Cleaning business
  25. Pure water business
  26. Dropshipping business

Conclusion

However, we still have others like the under listed businesses that are also yet to be overcrowded:

Real Estate Development

Food Truck Business

Training Centres

Solar Power

Palm Oil Production

Gas Filling And Supplies

Note: The capital and ROI, as mentioned in this article, may vary based on location and business preferences and expectations. Do well to carry out more market research before you begin the business.

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Olufemi Akinyemi
Olufemi Akinyemi
https://experts.ng/
Olufemi is a certified management consultant. An experienced management strategist, highly result oriented with excellent analytical, communication, creativity, and problem solving skills. He has extensive experience advising clients in both private and public sector on strategies, business structure design, capabilities and resources required to effectively build and manage teams to drive organisational success and achieve set goals. Olufemi is highly trained in organisational behaviours, board room management strategies, etc. His emotional intelligence is impeccable. He is a product of the Harvard business school, Boston, USA, and a fellow of the institute of management consultants.
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