Welcome, Guest: Register On Nairaland / LOGIN! / Trending / Recent / New
Stats: 3,152,793 members, 7,817,290 topics. Date: Saturday, 04 May 2024 at 09:38 AM

Nigerians Are The Uk’s Fourth Biggest Foreign Spenders. - Politics - Nairaland

Nairaland Forum / Nairaland / General / Politics / Nigerians Are The Uk’s Fourth Biggest Foreign Spenders. (1188 Views)

Dele Momodu Writes Buhari, Says Nigerians Are Lamenting / Nigerian Fulani Militants Named As Fourth Deadliest Terror Group In World / How Nigerians Are Coping With Fuel Scarcity (Photos) (2) (3) (4)

(1) (Reply) (Go Down)

Nigerians Are The Uk’s Fourth Biggest Foreign Spenders. by Olisa74(m): 7:53am On Sep 11, 2012
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. 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.

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.

Source:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/sep/10/nigeria-shoppers-rival-russia-middle-east
Re: Nigerians Are The Uk’s Fourth Biggest Foreign Spenders. by Olisa74(m): 7:56am On Sep 11, 2012
Since this is the case, why do many Nigerians come on to Nairaland complaining about thieving politicians and economic woes? There must be something right happening in Nigeria.
Re: Nigerians Are The Uk’s Fourth Biggest Foreign Spenders. by CHAIRMAN1(m): 8:16am On Sep 11, 2012
When did Appiah become a nigerian name?
Because they didn't see any nigerian to interview, they hurriedly chatted up a ghanian and tagged her a nigerian. British Press!
Re: Nigerians Are The Uk’s Fourth Biggest Foreign Spenders. by ochukoccna: 8:31am On Sep 11, 2012
Olisa74: Since this is the case, why do many Nigerians come on to Nairaland complaining about thieving politicians and economic woes? There must be something right happening in Nigeria.
How many middle class Nigerians exist? shocked shocked shocked
Because you read a report about how some Nigerians spend in the UK [include those who go there to study] doesn't mean majority of the people are not wallowing in poverty
If the stats are right, I think its 70% of the population live on about 2 dollars daily embarassed embarassed
Re: Nigerians Are The Uk’s Fourth Biggest Foreign Spenders. by Gbawe: 8:34am On Sep 11, 2012
CHAIRMAN1: When did Appiah become a nigerian name?
Because they didn't see any nigerian to interview, they hurriedly chatted up a ghanian and tagged her a nigerian. British Press!

Dude, Appiah could be a Nigerian name same as Adebayo, Akabusi could be British names and Chan, Dembele and Olajuwon could be American names. Think globally. The world is becoming more borderless and allegiance is becoming more about where people find themselves living.
Re: Nigerians Are The Uk’s Fourth Biggest Foreign Spenders. by ochukoccna: 8:39am On Sep 11, 2012
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.
And to think that Sanusi sees nothing wrong nor make a move to stop this puerile currency policy
Re: Nigerians Are The Uk’s Fourth Biggest Foreign Spenders. by Jakumo(m): 8:43am On Sep 11, 2012
Gbawe:

Dude, Appiah could be a Nigerian name same as Adebayo, Akabusi could be English names and Chan, Dembele and Olajuwon could be American names. Think globally. The world is becoming more borderless and allegiance is becoming more about where people find themselves living.

I once heard of a Nigerian named Chief Lagido'njeun-Aja'ngbo, but I have my reasons to suspect he might be an impostor hiding behind an African-sounding pseudonym.

Linguistic experts in the house pleas enlighten
Re: Nigerians Are The Uk’s Fourth Biggest Foreign Spenders. by Olisa74(m): 8:57am On Sep 11, 2012
ochukoccna:
How many middle class Nigerians exist? shocked shocked shocked
Because you read a report about how some Nigerians spend in the UK [include those who go there to study] doesn't mean majority of the people are not wallowing in poverty
If the stats are right, I think its 70% of the population live on about 2 dollars daily embarassed embarassed

Nigerians are not wallowing in poverty. Nigerians just have that misconception. Yes there are plenty of poor Nigerians, but there are equally a lot of Nigerians doing well. To understand this you have to travel to several other poor African countries. How accurate are the stats that claim 70% of the population lives on 2 dollars a day? That, I totally disagree with.
Re: Nigerians Are The Uk’s Fourth Biggest Foreign Spenders. by ochukoccna: 9:11am On Sep 11, 2012
Olisa74:
Nigerians are not wallowing in poverty. Nigerians just have that misconception. Yes there are plenty of poor Nigerians, but there are equally a lot of Nigerians doing well. To understand this you have to travel to several other poor African countries. How accurate are the stats that claim 70% of the population lives on 2 dollars a day? That, I totally disagree with.
That's why my post said if the stats are to be believed yet know that it is no misconception Nigerians& many of them at that are poor,quite poor embarassed embarassed stats or not
Go the inner cities&towns away from major urban slums to confirm this
And do know that Nigeria has fallen behind on most human indexes using Africa as a benchmark
Re: Nigerians Are The Uk’s Fourth Biggest Foreign Spenders. by ochukoccna: 9:29am On Sep 11, 2012
Nigeria is tagged with countries that have low human development according to this 2010 UNDP report
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_African_countries_by_Human_Development_Index
Was searching for more recent data to back my assertion that Nigeria is behind many an African country only for that goblin called PHCN to strike angry angry
Face it
Naija poor only that the average Nigerian is street smart, very street smart
Something which make oyinbos shiver cool cool cool
Re: Nigerians Are The Uk’s Fourth Biggest Foreign Spenders. by LongOne1(m): 10:23am On Sep 11, 2012
Jakumo:

I once heard of a Nigerian named Chief Lagido'njeun-Aja'ngbo, but I have my reasons to suspect he might be an impostor hiding behind an African-sounding pseudonym.

Linguistic experts in the house pleas enlighten

Well, since you guys are talking about names, mine happens to sound Chinese. Nigerians usually ask about my nationality when they see it and I happen to be 100% Nigerian.

(1) (Reply)

SOLD! Clean Registered 1998/ 1999 Toyota Camry (tiny Light) For Sale 700k / Series Of Bomb Attacks Hits Kano City (picture) / President Goodluck Jonathan's New Year Message Broadcast

(Go Up)

Sections: politics (1) business autos (1) jobs (1) career education (1) romance computers phones travel sports fashion health
religion celebs tv-movies music-radio literature webmasters programming techmarket

Links: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10)

Nairaland - Copyright © 2005 - 2024 Oluwaseun Osewa. All rights reserved. See How To Advertise. 29
Disclaimer: Every Nairaland member is solely responsible for anything that he/she posts or uploads on Nairaland.