On her twice-yearly visits to London from Nigeria, Victoria Appiah stocks up on everything she needs for the next six months. "I basically only do food shopping back home," she says, standing outside Marks & Spencer's flagship store in Marble Arch, central London. "It's not that you can't get these things in Lagos, but everything here is much more reasonably priced.

"If you want cheap products, Chinese-made have taken over in Nigeria, and you can't always vouch for quality."

[size=14pt]Thousands of Nigerians agree. Visitors from the west African nation are the UK's fourth biggest foreign spenders, ringing up an average £500 in each shop where they make purchases – four times what the average UK shopper spends.[/size]

Holidaying or visiting relatives abroad is increasingly open to millions of middle class Nigerians, with the number of visitors to the UK increasing by more than 50% to 142,000 a year in the decade ending 2011, according to the Office for National Statistics. In a country projected to become Africa's biggest economy next year, and the world's fifth most populous by 2050, businesses at home and abroad are cashing in. In Debenhams' Oxford Street branch, signs in Hausa, one of the official Nigerian languages in the country's largely impoverished north, direct shoppers to items on sale. This year, the shop said that Nigerian customers were its biggest overseas spenders.

Daily flights plying the lucrative route between Nigeria and the UK have ballooned in the last decade. British Airways permits almost double the normal baggage allowance for the six-hour haul.

In some cases, Nigerians are literally using their deeper pockets on sprees. Shola Obadeyu wore a heavy duffel coat while queueing in Heathrow for a flight back to her sweltering home city of Abuja. "I can save [airline] baggage space by putting small things like vest tops and underwear in the pockets," she said as she queued with other passengers, almost all struggling with bulging suitcases. Back in Abuja, Obadeyu sells wares bought in London "at prices that don't kill you".

Others are tapping the market. A mushrooming middle class snapped up 10m microwaves last year. Big name brands from Apple to Zara have sprung up to feed those aspirations.

The African-based discount supermarket giant Shoprite is pouring $205m into its current three outlets in Nigeria, while the US hypermarket Walmart sees scope for 50 outlets in the country.

On a recent trip back from Europe, Marie Claire Lienou lugged 50kg of frozen meat in a freezer bag back to Nigeria. "You can't compare [Shoprite's] prices here with their prices in Europe. For 10 steaks there I can buy two here. You just pay what you have to for the convenience and guarantees," she said, pushing a trolley laden with relative luxuries such as bagged salads.

"Nigeria is very crowded, traffic is terrible, fakes [wares] are everywhere. The only thing I'll buy from the market is fresh bulk vegetables, because there are no fake tomatoes," she added.

Being middle class in Nigeria isn't cheap. In a brightly lit KFC across the shopping centre, Taiwo Edun, an engineer, treated his girlfriend to crispy chicken and chips, a luxury beyond the reach of many at $20 (£13) a pop.

"I don't consider myself in the super-rich class, I'm not chartering flights for my friends to go on holiday like some Nigerians can. But I can come here maybe once a month," he said.

The widespread corruption and infrastructure woes that plague Nigeria – including daily power blackouts that are smoothed over by millions of generators – push up the costs of running businesses here, keeping most dependent on informal, market-style retail.

Abrupt plans to introduce a new 5,000 naira (£20) note worth five times the current highest bill have caused an outcry, with market sellers saying it would drive up prices.

On the back of one of the notes will be Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, mother of the Afrobeat singer Fela Kuti. Ransome-Kuti made her name as an activist with a mass protest against policies that increased prices for market women.

Meanwhile, those who can afford it continue to see a better deal abroad. The country's central bank throws billions of dollars into propping up the naira at artificially high rates, hurting millions of local exporters and encouraging Nigeria's shopping exodus.

Indicating her clutch of M&S carrier bags, Appiah said it was her five-year-old grandson's favourite shop.

"As long as the weather is not too cold, Nigerians will be shopping in London," she said.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/sep/10/nigeria-shoppers-rival-russia-middle-east

ringing up an average £500 in each shop where they make purchases – four times what the average UK shopper spends.

shymexx: On her twice-yearly visits to London from Nigeria, Victoria Appiah stocks up on everything she needs for the next six months. "I basically only do food shopping back home," she says, standing outside Marks & Spencer's flagship store in Marble Arch, central London. "It's not that you can't get these things in Lagos, but everything here is much more reasonably priced.

"If you want cheap products, Chinese-made have taken over in Nigeria, and you can't always vouch for quality."

Thousands of Nigerians agree.

shymexx: On a recent trip back from Europe, Marie Claire Lienou lugged 50kg of frozen meat in a freezer bag back to Nigeria. "You can't compare [Shoprite's] prices here with their prices in Europe. For 10 steaks there I can buy two here. You just pay what you have to for the convenience and guarantees," she said, pushing a trolley laden with relative luxuries such as bagged salads.

shymexx: Being middle class in Nigeria isn't cheap. In a brightly lit KFC across the shopping centre, Taiwo Edun, an engineer, treated his girlfriend to crispy chicken and chips, a luxury beyond the reach of many at $20 (£13) a pop.

shymexx:

^^^^Hmmmmm... I thought the country was poor - but the average Nigerian shopper in the UK spends 4 times what the average UK shoppers spends... You lot have got your priorities backward...Keep taking the money you should keep in your country outside, and expect "the hand of God" to turn your fortunes around..

Visitors from the west African nation are the UK's fourth biggest foreign spenders, ringing up an average £500 in each shop where they make purchases – four times what the average UK shopper spends.

ifyalways: Appiah is a Ghanaian name @ OP.

Gbawe: We are highly and obsessively acquisition-driven in Africa because we produce nothing !!!! Many African immigrants living in the UK have ten fridge-freezers to store food while the average Briton has one fridge-freezer because he has been brought up to understand he can go to the shops routinely and conveniently to purchase more food items when he runs out !!!!

Long One:

I don’t think it’s just the African immigrants that are ‘obsessively acquisition-driven’; some black Britons are guilty of this. My flatmate is a good example, as he usually fills up the fridge and freezer with stuff, leaving me very little room.
Though he has African ancestry, two of his generations have lived in the UK, or are you saying it’s a trait passed on? I am beginning to wonder if it is a ‘black’ thing.

@ Topic, shows you the business potential Africa has. Anyone interested in franchising?

On a recent trip back from Europe, Marie Claire Lienou lugged 50kg of frozen meat in a freezer bag back to Nigeria. "You can't compare [Shoprite's] prices here with their prices in Europe. For 10 steaks there I can buy two here.

ifyalways: Appiah is a Ghanaian name @ OP.

"It's not that you can't get these things in Lagos, but everything here is much more reasonably priced.

Gbawe:
Shymexx, you are clearly intelligent but you need to refrain from being dishonest in an effort to prop up your various bias. You attempt here to insinuate that the average Nigerian spends 4 times what the average UK shopper spends when the article makes it obvious it is talking about Nigerian visitors probably in the UK specifically to spend.

We are highly and obsessively acquisition-driven in Africa because we produce nothing !!!! Many African immigrants living in the UK have ten fridge-freezers to store food while the average Briton has one fridge-freezer because he has been brought up to understand he can go to the shops routinely and conveniently to purchase more food items when he runs out !!!! No need to bulk buy, hoard food or clutter the kitchen with freezers when food will always be in the stores. The African has to think differently coming from a region where frivolous economic regulations means a food item may be scarce, unavailable or inordinately expensive for months !!!!

Nigerians saving money desperately and then coming to shop frenziedly in the UK does not prove anything other than the sad reality we have now accepted our position of being desperately reliant on others to supply us finished/cheaper goods while we myopically and indolently restrict ourselves to finding the money to afford these goods.

shymexx:

I understand where you're coming from, but my point is; why do they have spend that much just to shop in the UK - when they can get the same thing in Nigeria? Thus, keeping the money in the Nigerian economy... If you put the money they would spend to obtain the visa, flight tickets, accommodation etc... into consideration, is it really worth it??

I think most of them just do it out of ignorance and the "look cool" factor(inferiority complex) - just to show off that they 'shopped' in London... But either way, it's hurting the Nigerian economy, that was my point..

shymexx:

I understand where you're coming from, but my point is; why do they have spend that much just to shop in the UK - when they can get the same thing in Nigeria? Thus, keeping the money in the Nigerian economy... If you put the money they would spend to obtain the visa, flight tickets, accommodation etc... into consideration, is it really worth it??

I think most of them just do it out of ignorance and the "look cool" factor(inferiority complex) - just to show off that they 'shopped' in London... But either way, it's hurting the Nigerian economy, that was my point..

coogar:

it's worth it for the people who want quality! it's far cheaper to get in the uk than paying a cut-throat price in nigeria. besides too many fake products in the nigerian market is a turn-off!

coogar:
it's worth it for the people who want quality! it's far cheaper to get in the uk than paying a cut-throat price in nigeria. besides too many fake products in the nigerian market is a turn-off!

Gbawe:
My brother, in this regard, I see your point totally. Go to Harrods and Selfridges during the sales and you may be forgiven for thinking you are in down town Lagos. Nigerians love the "one way trafick" pattern of shopping. If TM Lewin shirt comes into fashion, it is inflexibly what every Nigerian want's to come to London to stock up on.

Gbawe:

I think this is part of the point Shymmex makes. Why can't our local businessmen, entrepreneurs, SME's and manufacturer innovatively rise to the challenge of strengthening the Nigerian economy by producing quality at home so that Nigerian money does not go outside chasing that quality? I totally agree with him in that regard because I have always wondered same myself. Why not simply learn to do things to World class standards? It is not an impossible or unrealistic concept.

shymexx:

If you calculate the total cost of shopping in London(with the visa fee, flight ticket, and accommodation), isn't it far more expensive than the "cut-throat" price in Nigeria?? And aren't those shops also in Nigeria?

coogar:

it is not possible to deliver world class standards in nigeria. the cost of producing one item of world class product is not within the reach of 98% of the nigerian population and the other 2% can't be bothered as well! nigerians tailor their products to meet the spending power of the majority! a country where the average spend is $2 - what do you expect the local manufacturers to churn out?

Gbawe:
My brother, on the franchising thing, I feel you ojare. I am a very big fan of African businessmen and entrepreneurs delivering value for the continent with proactive, considerate and expansive trading practices. If you have it in mind, consider it seriously because your financial and mental rewards may be immense.

coogar:

it is not possible to deliver world class standards in nigeria. the cost of producing one item of world class product is not within the reach of 98% of the nigerian population and the other 2% can't be bothered as well! nigerians tailor their products to meet the spending power of the majority! a country where the average spend is $2 - what do you expect the local manufacturers to churn out?

Gbawe:

Shymexx, you are clearly intelligent but you need to refrain from being dishonest in an effort to prop up your various bias. You attempt here to insinuate that the average Nigerian spends 4 times what the average UK shopper spends when the article makes it obvious it is talking about Nigerian visitors probably in the UK specifically to spend.

We are highly and obsessively acquisition-driven in Africa because we produce nothing !!!! Many African immigrants living in the UK have ten fridge-freezers to store food while the average Briton has one fridge-freezer because he has been brought up to understand he can go to the shops routinely and conveniently to purchase more food items when he runs out !!!! No need to bulk buy, hoard food or clutter the kitchen with freezers when food will always be in the stores. The African has to think differently coming from a region where frivolous economic regulations means a food item may be scarce, unavailable or inordinately expensive for months !!!!

Nigerians saving money desperately and then coming to shop frenziedly in the UK does not prove anything other than the sad reality we have now accepted our position of being desperately reliant on others to supply us finished/cheaper goods while we myopically and indolently restrict ourselves to finding the money to afford these goods.

Long One:
I disagree with this; labour is supposed to be cheaper in the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) economies, which is why most manufacturing is outsourced to these Countries.
Are you saying these almajiris/agberos can’t be taught craftsmanship and paid a decent wage?

Gbawe:
It is in my opinion. I am not talking everyone, everywhere producing high quality products/service. I am talking of those with the finance, and they are many, not cutting corner or compromising to produce goods of the quality that would make Nigerians shun foreign offers. For example, when interlock machinery is required to finish off a shirt nicely, some Nigerian tailor may ignore this stage because they are not bothered about absolute quality even if they can easily afford an interlocking machine.

Small things like that show we can do things better but have become a people far too happy to cut corners and not particularly bothered about excelling, doing anything very well or to the highest standard.

shymexx:

I understand where you're coming from, but my point is; why do they have spend that much just to shop in the UK - when they can get the same thing in Nigeria? Thus, keeping the money in the Nigerian economy... If you put the money they would spend to obtain the visa, flight tickets, accommodation etc... into consideration, is it really worth it??

I think most of them just do it out of ignorance and the "look cool" factor(inferiority complex) - just to show off that they 'shopped' in London... But either way, it's hurting the Nigerian economy, that was my point..

ilugunboy:

Exactly my sentiment.

I have a neighbor, she squeezed herself to go to London, now she is secretly sending my wife to me to loan her some money to pay for her daughter's school fees of less than 150k. Obviously am never going to do that for her.

To many people in Nigeria with mis-placed priorities.

shymexx:
If you calculate the total cost of shopping in London(with the visa fee, flight ticket, and accommodation), isn't it far more expensive than the "cut-throat" price in Nigeria?? And aren't those shops also in Nigeria?

Long One:

I am seriously considering it. The capital is a whole other issue, lol.

coogar:

don't be a sourpuss - loan her the money!

coogar: i am not talking labour cost - i am talking about other overheads. power supply, transport and security! to operate a functional business in nigeria, you need about 4 lordmart generating sets, your own boehole, your own security, etc - you are more or less your own local government - these costs are codedly added to the cost price you see on the shelves thus making things super expensive in nigeria!

Gbawe: Guy, I feel you sha. Nigeria is a brutal place to raise capital. Purely every man for himself in that place. This is an aspect of economic development Government should look at much more i.e assisting SME's with start up funds, training etc. The rewards for the economy would be immense ala employment, income through tax collection, foreign exchange (for those exporting) etc.