Stephen GbolagadeDuring this Corona Virus outbreak, millions of people have come to realize that they need to find a way to make money online, but without being equipped with good digital skills in Nigeria, you’re not going to make a good income. I won’t deceive you, all those Ponzi schemes you’re joining can’t give you a promising future online.
And as well, if you rely on your vocational skills such as local tailoring, fashion designing, or any crude work you’re currently doing, then I’m using this opportunity to tell you that, it is high time to learn a digital skill. Note that, a digital skill is a passive way to earn income online, that is, you don’t need to quit your current job at all.
We live in a digital world; with everything being automated, making life much easier. However, these may feel, the number of personnel available to make all these possible is quite limited. With this, there’s a demand for individuals with these skills.
Here are the top Digital Skills in Nigeria to Make Money in Nigeria;
1. Artificial Intelligence
Imagine a machine or a computer doing what you’re doing now as a human being; remember, we were taught in secondary school that machines are more efficient than humans. Imagine such efficiency; in addition to doing human-like things. Well, you have to stop all the fantasies and awaken to the reality before you; AI is here to stay!
Inasmuch as Nigeria isn’t completely digitized, we can’t deny the fact that we’re slowly getting adapted to an AI-powered society. This is evident in our smartphones, cameras, chatbots, digital assistants (Siri, Google Assistant, and Cortana), and even AI-powered cars. All these machines mimic human activities and carry them out more efficiently.
If you’re someone with such skill in Nigeria – to train machines to perform human activities, you’re a valuable asset! The tech market in the country is not that big with individuals with such skill, and this means you get to be well paid.
Currently, a young Nigerian guy is a high-paid roboticist in the world. What does that mean? It means that with good digital skills like knowledge about Artificial Intelligence in Nigeria, you can become a well-paid geek.
2. Machine Learning
Have you ever wondered how YouTube suggested videos you may like while watching, how Twitter suggests people you may like to follow, how your smartphone keyboard suggests words that fit in your sentence, or how online stores put their ADs on your social feeds and apps; I guess these are all cool features. All these are made possible through machine learning.
Machine learning, which is a subset of artificial intelligence; uses mathematical and statistical algorithms to learn the pattern of things over time. Human behavioral patterns can be studied through machine learning thereby making it possible to do things easier.
This important skill makes it easier for businesses to process huge amounts of data. It is useful in financial institutions, government agencies, health care, and oil and gas. So, those with good knowledge of this digital skill get to make a lot of money in Nigeria.
3. Data Science
Since we entered the digital era, the amount of data has greatly increased. These data need people who can analyze, process, and put into use. As a data scientist, you’re basically dealing with the science of data.
There are quite a lot of different data; financial data, health data, social data, and many more. All these help organizations make better decisions based on the data collected. It’s also used to enhance productivity, and also aids in big research projects.
In Nigeria, the services of data scientists are in great need as it would help to simplify certain tasks across various sectors. So, you might want to learn this skill right now if you don’t have the knowledge already.
4. Data Engineering
Just like machine learning is a subset of artificial intelligence; so also is data engineering a subset of data science. It’s basically the same learning style but the engineers focus more on the programming aspect.
Data engineers help in fetching and implementation of the data to be worked on by a data scientist. This will require a lot of programming skills that a scientist may lack. In Nigeria, these two work hand-in-hand alongside other professionals.
5. Cybersecurity
The world we live today can be divided into two; the offline world, and the online world. The latter has security agencies and law enforcement agencies. How about the online world? We have cybersecurity personnel. They safeguard the Internet; preventing malicious activities that seem to go on every day.
Recently, the American Justice Dept sanctioned 6 Nigerians for various forms of cybercrime. These forms of crimes are at a high rate due to the fact that we have a small community of cybersecurity experts in the country. This makes it a viable digital skill to have in Nigeria.
6. Cloud Computing/AWS
Gone are the days where people spent huge amounts on hardware infrastructure. Today we have a virtual space we call “cloud” which can be used for data storage, networking, software, and many more.
Making all these services available to both individuals and corporate bodies is the job of cloud computing personnel. This saves the cost it takes in storing huge chunks on a hardware device; making it available remotely anywhere in the world. Cloud computing has received wide attention lately and having such skill will bump up your finances in Nigeria
7. UX/UI Design
Beauty is something we all love to associate with – especially, external beauty. Gone are the days of generic designs that were present in most digital products. Today’s business world requires the services of a UX/UI designer to capture the hearts of customers.
Design now plays a major role in marketing, and the overall success of your business. The UX; which deals with knowing what kind of design would attract your target audience, and UI; which deals with the actual design of digital products, make your business stand out.
This is getting quite popular in Nigeria; with some big names doing great stuff in this field. You’re well paid in Nigeria if you have any of these or both.
8. Mobile App/Game Development
This is a pretty big industry considering the number of smartphone users in the country. If you’re reading this on your phone, you’re making use of an app that enables you to do so. After this, you would switch to another app or game. All these apps serve various purposes.
In Nigeria, the app development market is a fast-growing one; with lots of local companies creating mobile applications for their products and services. Those with a good knowledge of mobile app development are well paid in the country since we have a little community that is growing. You can choose to make apps for either Android or Apple iOS or even both.
9. Software Development
Year after year; month after month, we get to see the launching of PCs with great aesthetics. These devices no matter how dope they tend to look, are quite useless without software in them. Now if you don’t know, the software is what drives all the hardware components, and there are different types of software.
In Nigeria, the software is being created daily to serve various purposes; be it business, entertainment, gaming, utilities, and more. We have a good community of software developers in the country at the moment. Also, software development is a very broad field with lots of sub-fields to choose from, and if you have this skill, you have a valuable asset that won’t go away in years.
10. Web Development/Design
What you’re looking at right now was made possible by a web developer/designer. This site and many more like this; where you get to see informative posts like this, were all made to come alive by a developer, and designer for the aesthetics.
This skill is one of the top-paying digital skills in Nigeria at the moment, and it’ll continue to be. Reason is: every business in the country is going digital, those who haven’t already, are making plans for it. Businesses don’t remain in the offices, they’re now exposed to the world outside their physical office through their website.
There are some web design and digital marketing agencies across the country that are earning millions of Naira with this digital skill.
11. Content Marketing
The battle for customers in today’s business world is very fierce – although on the surface it may not look like it, it’s the fact! Marketing has gone from the traditional model we knew to a more modern pattern. Content marketing – which is one of those ways, is geared towards creating content for an audience.
Content may be social media posts, blog posts, podcasts, videos, graphics in addition to products and services. Top brands today will definitely need your services as a content marketer; to help in attracting their target audience and in the long term, turning them to customers.
Graphics Design
Graphics design is another top paying digital skill in Nigeria. It deals with the creation of visually appealing content in order to communicate a product or service. This is done using flyers, banners, billboards, webpages magazine, and even via mobile applications.
If you are proficient in this field; having good knowledge of all the required tools needed for design, then you have a huge market of opportunities waiting for you. Learning this might take some time, but it’ll be worth it. In addition to this, improving your creativity is an added advantage.
Graphic designing is a good digital skill to make some pretty good money in Nigeria, as different institutions, startups, and individuals need good branding. If you know your onions as a graphic designer in Nigeria, you’re going to make a fortune.
But I’ll advise you guys to upgrade and learn UI/UX designing.
13. Digital Marketing
The title of this post talks about “digital skills”. Seeing that we live in a digitalized (computer-based) universe, everything tends to be done in this manner. Digital marketing uses digital means to publicize your product, service, or brand.
The means with which digital marketers do this include; SEO, SEM, email marketing, social media marketing, and many more. This mode of marketing is more streamlined and really effective if you want to see significant growth in your business. With this in mind, digital marketers are held at high esteem, making it a profitable skill to have.
14. Social Media Management
We all love social media! In fact, studies show that on average a person spends above 2 hours of their 24 hours on social media. It is no wonder the likes of Facebook and Twitter are among the sites with the most traffic on the Internet.
This means a lot for businesses; that’s why most brands in Nigeria pay social media managers good money to be their voice on these platforms. Social media managers grow the online presence of brands by creating awareness of their ideal audience. This awareness in the long run will invariably lead to business growth.
Programming
This skill is the last on our list, but despite its position, it is one of the most important digital skills that isn’t going away anytime soon. In fact, programming is the bedrock of some of the skills listed above.
Having good knowledge of programming languages is key to knowing some skills above. For a programmer, you’re really important to the ICT world as you create programs that tend to solve certain problems.
The good thing about it. programming is the vast majority of languages to choose from, so you’re not restricted to learning any language.
Currently, Python, Ruby, and JavaScript are leading, but I’m not saying you should start with them. Try to start learning from basics and upgrade your programming skills later on. Freecodecamp.org and other top programming course websites are ready to help you get started.
Rounding off – Top Paying Digital Skills in Nigeria
When it comes to digital skills, there are quite a lot of them out there, these are the top 15 high-paying digital skills in Nigeria at this point in time. The good thing with digital skills is the ability to learn online for free (on some platforms) and at your pace, why not try getting one if you don’t have one? If you have, do share your experience in the comments.
Also note that all these digital skills are not just high-in-demand in Nigeria, but they’re hot worldwide. Even, if you learn any of these skills, the best way to make money with it is, through freelancing platforms such as Fiverr, Upwork, etc.
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Stephen Gbolagade
Stephen is a Frontend engineer, technical writer, owner and part-time blogger here at Gbolamedia, incoming data scientist, an enthusiastic cynophilist, and a curious introvert. Stephen is currently available for full-time, part-time or contract-base role. Contact him here: on WhatsApp or check him on Linkedin
Stephen Gbolagade
