In many online forums the discussion on what
is an acceptable salary is always ongoing.
While inflation and other factors contribute to
a growing cost of living in Nigeria and other
parts of Africa salaries and wages
unfortunately do not always rise along.
In 2013 things do not look like they are
getting better in terms of cost of living. Things
like rent, food, rates (power, water) etc keep
increasing in cost.
Therefore the question arises, ”What is the
average amount the average starting Nigerian
worker can earn in 2013 for it to be an
acceptable salary given the prevailing
economic conditions?” What will be seen as an
average acceptable entry level salary across
telecom, oil and gas, services, education and
indeed all sectors for a worker to be able to
afford an acceptable standard of living? How
Many People Already Earn a Comfortable
Starting Salary in Nigeria?
We took the time to research and look into the
answer to the above questions. In compiling
our answers we interviewed several workers
(that can be classified as middle class or
average in income levels), scoured through
tons of online discussions on the issue and
conducted third party research.
While it may be difficult to claim a general
average salary that will be good enough for all
interests we explored and bring to you what
we have found to be a reasonable estimation
of what an average salary should be for
Nigerians in 2013. But the fact is that what
we put forward may be far from the reality on
ground!
To get a hang of what a suitable average
salary could be we first look at the basic costs
of living facing the average worker;
- Housing : For someone living in an
apartment that is just okay enough we
estimate a monthly cost of N12,000 –
N15,000
- Transportation : N10,000
- Feeding : depends on the number of
stomachs dependent on the entry level worker
but we estimate between 1 – 3 persons
depending on the worker for food daily. If cost
of feeding each person a day is average N400
(could be far higher of course if meals are
eaten out at restaurants) we arrive at N400
for each person per day maximum and
multiply that by 3 persons and by thirty to get
N36,000
- Welfare (clothing, entertainment etc): We can
assume N20,000 monthly will do for this
- Miscellaneous (to cover other wants, and
expenses that may need to be made including
savings): N50,000
The above (very generous estimations) give a
total N131, 000 on the extreme side for
average entry level salary all things being
equal, for the average Nigerian worker with at
least a Higher National Diploma.
The real situation
From our findings the average salary scale for
entry level workers (Degree/HND Holders) for
some popular sectors and the percentage of
the workforce they employ is as follows;
Oil & Gas (2%): N100, 000 – N140, 000
Telecom/IT (7%): N70, 000 – N110, 000
Banking & Financial Services (13%) – N50,
000 – N100, 000
Hospitality, Media, Services Sector (33%) –
N30, 000 – N60, 000
Others (55%) – N15, 000 – N45, 000
From the above we deduce that majority of
Nigerian workers at the entry level earn far
below what would pass as a highly acceptable
average salary given today’s economic
situation.
We acknowledge the use of the following
sources;
- Payscale
- Nairaland and a couple other discussion
forums on career related issues
- Salary ranges on over 1,500 job vacancies
published with us in the past one year
- Wikipedia
- Next Generation Nigeria

Hmmm...for those always asking about salary structure.