Side hustles have become an increasingly popular way for people in Nigeria to supplement their income and get paid on a weekly basis.
With high unemployment and a lack of well-paying jobs, side hustles provide much-needed additional income.
Some of the most popular side hustles that pay weekly in Nigeria include ride-hailing services, food delivery, freelancing, affiliate marketing, social media management, and cryptocurrency trading among others.
These side hustles leverage the power of the internet and smartphones to connect service providers with customers.
This article will explore 11 of the best side hustles that pay weekly in Nigeria. For each side hustle, we will overview how it works, the income potential, and tips for getting started.
Whether you want to earn an extra ₦10,000-₦50,000 weekly or replace your 9 to 5 entirely, these side hustles can be great options!
Ride-Hailing Services
Ride-hailing services like Uber, Bolt (previously Taxify), and Oga Taxi have become hugely popular side hustles in Nigeria.
As a driver-partner for one of these platforms, you earn money by picking up passengers and taking them to their destination. You get to keep a cut of every ride fee.
Here’s a quick overview:
- How It Works: Download the app, submit required documents, get approved, then start accepting trip requests nearby.
- Income Potential: ₦15,000 – ₦50,000+ weekly depending on hours driven
- Getting Started:
- Meet requirements for the platform
- Get any 4-door vehicle, manual/automatic transmission
- Get required licenses, documents, insurance etc.
- Learn your city well to maximize earnings
Ride-hailing is one of the most flexible weekly-paying side hustles as you can choose your own schedule.
The more you drive, the more you earn! With Nigeria’s traffic congestion in major cities, ride requests tend to be constant as well.
Food Delivery
Food delivery platforms like Jumia Food, Glovo, and Bolt Food enable anyone with a vehicle to earn money by delivering meals, groceries, and other items to customers.
It’s an on-demand, flexible way to get paid weekly as a driver-partner.
How It Works
- Sign up as a driver/delivery partner
- Get orders sent to your phone based on your location
- Pick up orders from restaurants/stores
- Deliver orders to the provided address
- Earn per order fees and tips
Income Potential
- ₦15,000 – ₦35,000+ weekly
- Income depends on number of deliveries
Getting Started
To start delivering for a platform like Jumia Food or Glovo you’ll need:
- Active bank account
- Smartphone
- Means of transportation – motorcycle or vehicle
- Valid form of ID
- Insurance (for vehicles)
Food delivery is all about being fast and efficient. The more deliveries you make, the more you earn.
You also keep 100% of cash tips from customers. It’s an easy service business that pays weekly.
Freelancing
Freelancing has boomed in Nigeria thanks to the internet making it easier to find remote freelance jobs worldwide. Freelancing side hustles include:
- Writing
- Graphic design
- Video editing
- Virtual assistance
- Web development
- and more
How It Works
Freelancers market their services directly to clients or via freelance sites like Fiverr and Upwork.
Common payment models:
- Hourly rate
- Fixed price per project
- Long term retainer fee
Income Potential
- ₦30,000 – ₦100,000+ weekly
- Top freelancers can earn over ₦300,000 monthly
Getting Started
- Determine your niche skill
- Build portfolio/samples
- Create profiles on freelance sites
- Reach out to potential clients directly
- Deliver excellent work quickly
Many skilled professionals in Nigeria excel at freelancing online including writers, designers, programmers and more. It’s possible to earn a full-time living.
Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing in Nigeria is an online income stream where you earn commissions promoting other companies’ products.
How It Works
- Find affiliate programs related to your website/audience
- Join program for unique affiliate link
- Promote affiliate products via website, YouTube, social media etc.
- Receive commission when site visitors buy through your link
Popular affiliate programs in Nigeria include Jumia, Konga, Admitad and more.
Income Potential
- ₦5,000 – ₦100,000+ weekly
- Up to 80% commissions on sales
Getting Started
- Start a website or leverage the existing audience
- Find relevant affiliate programs
- Create promotions and content
- Drive traffic to affiliate links
With a targeted website and consistent promotions, affiliate commissions can become a steady side income that pays weekly into your account.
Social Media Management
Helping businesses or public figures grow and manage their social media accounts is another lucrative online side hustle in Nigeria with weekly payout potential.
How It Works
Common social media management services:
- Content creation
- Community management
- Paid ads management
- Analytics/reporting
You can charge retainer fees, hourly rates, monthly subscriptions or even profit sharing.
Income Potential
- ₦20,000 – ₦150,000+ weekly
- Some social media managers earn over ₦500,000 monthly
Getting Started
- Build your expertise running social media accounts
- Create service offerings and pitch clients
- Deliver results – followers, engagement, conversions
- Use tools like Hootsuite to manage multiple accounts
Every business today needs social media exposure giving this huge income potential. As your client results grow so will your weekly income.
Cryptocurrency Trading
Buying and selling Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies can be very lucrative in Nigeria.
With volatile crypto prices and exchange rate arbitrage opportunities, you can profit weekly with savvy trading in Nigeria.
How It Works
Ways to trade crypto:
- Short term buying/selling based on price fluctuations
- Arbitrage – buy assets on 1 exchange, sell at higher price on another
- Long term investing based on projects potential
Exchanges like Binance, Paxful and LocalBitcoins make trading easy.
Income Potential
- ₦25,000 – ₦250,000+ weekly
- Expert traders can profit millions monthly
Getting Started
- Research crypto price history and trading strategies
- Open accounts on trusted exchanges
- Start small to test different approaches
- Learn technical analysis to identify opportunities
- Manage risk wisely
With the right trading approach, buying low and selling high cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum and Dash can lead to impressive weekly profits.
Dropshipping
Dropshipping in Nigeria allows anyone to earn income online by selling products without inventory or overhead.
By leveraging suppliers that ship orders for you, it’s possible to run a simple ecommerce store that pays out weekly as you scale sales.
How It Works
- Find trending products to sell online
- List them on your own ecommerce store
- Drive traffic to your store through ads
- When an order comes in, supplier ships directly to customer
- Choose a low-cost ecommerce platform
- Find suppliers through platforms like Alibaba
- Focus on marketing and traffic to scale sales
Income Potential
- ₦25,000 – ₦150,000 weekly
- Higher profit margins than traditional retail
Getting Started
- Choose a low-cost ecommerce platform
- Find suppliers through platforms like Alibaba
- Focus on marketing and traffic to scale sales
Blog Monetization
Building a blog around your unique knowledge and interests can lead to various money-making opportunities.
By implementing advertising and affiliate programs, your informative content can earn passive revenue weekly in Nigeria.
How It Works
- Start a blog around your interests/expertise
- Implement ads like Google Adsense
- Join affiliate programs relevant to your niche
- Earn per click or action on ads/links
Income Potential
- ₦10,000 – ₦100,000+ weekly
- Top bloggers earn millions monthly
Getting Started
- Choose blog platform and niche topic
- Create valuable, SEO-optimized content
- Implement money-making ads and affiliates
- Build traffic through marketing
Phone Repairs
The widespread use of smartphones in Nigeria coupled with constant damage means phone repair skills are highly in demand. Offering quick, quality phone screen replacements or other fixes can be a lucrative side business.
How It Works
- Offer phone screen replacement and other phone repair services
- Market to customers in your area through ads and word-of-mouth
- Learn phone repair skills online or through courses
- Buy equipment and parts wholesale
- Offer competitive rates and quick turnaround times
Income Potential
- ₦25,000 – ₦100,000+ weekly
- High demand for phone repairs in Nigeria
Getting Started
- Learn phone repair skills online or through courses
- Buy equipment and parts wholesale
- Offer competitive rates and quick turnaround times
Handyman Services
Leveraging handyman skills like furniture assembly, cleaning, installations and repairs allows you to profit helping people keep their homes in order. Listing services on platforms like TaskRabbit enables connecting with clients needing assistance.
How It Works
- Offer general handyman services like furniture assembly, painting, cleaning and installations around the home
- Leverage sites like TaskRabbit to connect with clients needing help
- Gather necessary tools and equipment
- Market services directly or via helper platforms
- Provide 5-star service that leads to word-of-mouth referrals
Income Potential
- ₦15,000 – ₦50,000 weekly
- Set own rates per project or hourly
Getting Started
- Gather necessary tools and equipment
- Market services directly or via helper platforms
- Provide 5-star service that leads to word-of-mouth referrals
Software Development
Software development remains an extremely high-income skillset globally.
Building customized apps, SaaS platforms, and digital tools for clients can result in profits of over ₦100,000 weekly as your portfolio grows.
How It Works
- Build and sell customizable software applications and tools
- Offer related services like installation, customization, training
- Learn high income skills like Salesforce development
- Create useful minimum viable products
- Sell to larger corporate clients for big payouts
Income Potential
- ₦100,000 – ₦1,000,000+ weekly
- Charge monthly SaaS fees or one-time licensing costs
Getting Started
- Learn high-income skills like Salesforce development
- Create useful minimum-viable products
- Sell to larger corporate clients for big payouts
Key Takeaways
Some key points on the 11 best side hustles that pay weekly in Nigeria:
- Ridesharing, food delivery, freelancing and social media services allow you to set your own hours while earning weekly
- Side hustles like affiliate marketing, crypto trading allow you to build earnings passively over time
- Many online side hustles have great income scalability if done well
- Quick payout options and daily/weekly payment cycles available
- You can start side hustles like freelancing or social media management as sole proprietors with minimal startup costs
- Important to continually improve your skills and deliver excellent service to grow
Nigeria’s side hustle economy will continue expanding. Hopefully this gives ideas on some of the most lucrative options that can pay out earnings on a weekly basis.