How to make Money Online in Africa (10 Best Approaches)

The Pandemic as we all know left a lot of people totally broke. For most Africans, life became even harder. So many businesses collapsed, and families experienced extreme levels of uncertainty. As a result, some people stayed at home hoping for brighter days and others resorted to doing business online.

For a long time, making money online in Africa has been quite a struggle. Largely, this has been due to lack of resources. The Internet can be expensive and finding a laptop is sometimes a hustle. However, in the last few years, Africa has seen a huge increase in the number of people using the internet. According to Statista over 50% of people in Africa, had internet access in 2020.

Now, I know you are ready to know about the 10 best Approaches to making money online. I should say this, it’s not always easy – but from these approaches, quite a lot of people in the continent have benefited.

So… let’s get to it!

1. Selling your products on Facebook Groups (The Marketplace).

In 2016, Facebook introduced “Facebook Marketplace” – a convenient tool for people to discover, buy and sell their products. In most African countries this tool was released late 2019 and early 2020. On Marketplace you can list your items and reach buyers near you. Facebook Marketplace Groups also uses the same approach, only that Groups may have certain rules and specific types of listings. During the Pandemic and up to today most people survive from Facebook Marketplace in marketing their products and getting customers. It’s super fast and reliable, considering the fact that a lot of people are always online. Potential customers will immediately contact you. Make sure that in your listings you add prices, so that people won’t have to keep asking for prices.

2. Creating Video Content for Social Media

This is one of the more lucrative ways for making money online. It’ll however, take a lot of patience and consistency. You need to make sure that you grow a strong audience through sharing your page and inviting friends. If you have a few dollars, you can also do Paid Ads to grow page likes and followers. These days if you produce video content that’s entertaining, it spreads faster on Facebook. Not only does this work for Facebook. You can also create video content for YouTube and use your Instagram and Facebook followers to grow your YouTube network. The more subscribers and followers you get, the more likely you’ll reach your dream of making money online through video content.

3. Start and Blog and Monetize it

Blogs have helped people make money online for over 2 decades now. With a blog you can publish content that people are interested in everyday. Through your blog you can get huge traffic. Traffic to your website is essential for your perceived goal of making money through your blog. Consequently, you can introduce Google Ads to your blog to help you make money online. If you do not know how to start a blog, there’s plenty of articles online that can help. This article on SmartBlogger is an amazing resource. If you need a personal touch in creating your blog, you can get in touch with us.

4. Freelance Writing

You may be wondering, “how’s that making money online?” So, Freelance writing is one way, if you love writing and a good writer, to make money online. There a lot of online platforms where you can use your skill to get good writing jobs. For example, Fiverr, Freelancer and Upwork among others are popular platforms for you to find freelance writing jobs. Most businesses are taking advantage of those platforms to find skilled people to help them accomplish minor tasks quicker.

5. Copywriting

Copywriting can be defined as act of writing persuasive messages for the purpose of advertising or increasing brand awareness. This craft is not so popular in Africa, but it works. It’s a field you can tap into and learn the skill. It’s not rocket science, trust me. You can learn this skill and start looking for clients on Fiverr and Guru. Find out about copywriting on this article.

6. Start and E-Commerce Store

The E-commerce business all over the world surpasses a whooping US$9trillion market share. You heard that right, 9 trillion United States Dollars. It’s a big Industry, also for Africa. In the last decade, Africa has seen a massive growth in E-commerce. A large number of businesses are selling their products online. If you have a small business, I encourage you to tap into E-commerce. It will definitely transform your sales and expand your horizons. A good example of an E-commerce store that started from nothing is FreshInABox. FreshInABox is a Zimbabwean company that started off selling Farm produce in boxes and Khaki bags. Through E-commerce they have been able to make more profits than ever before. If you need help with developing your E-commerce Store, contact FrexLancers. They have very affordable prices to start off on your E-commerce journey.

7. Drop shipping

Drop shipping is one of the most popular topics online these days. It’s a lucrative business that Shopify thrives on. Many people all over the world have taken advantage of Shopify as a platform for drop shipping. And so they have made thousands if not hundreds of thousands of dollars. Drop shipping in simple terms is a form of retail where you sell clients other people’s products and add your markup. Anyway, who can best define Drop shipping than Shopify. This article on Shopify, best describes Drop shipping. Take note, even though it’s lucrative, you have to be geared for some not so easy work.

8. Teaching Online

Simply your camera, your video editing software and your skill. Udemy is a great platform to start building your online courses. If Udemy doesn’t work for you, go on Teachable. These platforms offer Teachers, instructors and coaches great opportunities to create courses online. I know this will sound quirky, but do not be afraid, they also work in Africa. Just be ready to create your courses and make money for the rest of your life.

Fortune Favors the Bold

Fortis Fortuna Adiuvat

If you are bold enough you can also make money giving people your knowledge online.

9. Cryptocurrencies

It’s no doubt that people are living off of cryptocurrencies. Go to South Africa, millionaires have been borne out of cryptocurrencies. Cryptocurrencies are not your usual digital money in your country that can be manipulated by banks or the government. Cryptocurrencies are quite decentralized and very secure. Blockchain technologies make cryptocurrencies secure. I bet you have heard about the Bitcoin – it is the King of Cryptocurrencies. Many people in Africa, especially in Nigeria and South Africa, have made huge fortunes. A good example is the South African Mpho Dagada. It’s not too late for you to jump onto this train and start trading Crypto. The Dogecoin, a few weeks ago, gained a lot of momentum because of a tweet from Elon Musk. It is one that you can take advantage of – at its current low price of 1doge = $0.338. However, after all has been said – Make your investments wisely.

10. Online Trading – Forex and Binary Options Trading

Trading Forex and Binary Options is similar but a bit different from trading Cryptocurrencies. When trading Forex you know you are trading real money. You can make huge gains, at the same time you can make huge losses and blow your account. I have seen a lot of young Africans waking from ashes through Forex Trading. However, their successes did not come easy, and yours won’t likely come easy. But, It’s possible. You have to study your way up. Babypips.com would be a good starting point. Like I said, many young people have been transformed through Forex Trading – some have become millionaires through it (e.g. Sandile Shezi (SA), Patrick Mahinge (Kenya). If you are into Forex Trading and you would like to turn your trades into profitable trades check out the Exynox Scalper. The Exynox Scalper is a Highly Profitable & Easy-To-Use intelligent indicator for both newbies and experienced traders.

From the approaches mentioned above, one of them may be your ticket to making money online. Keep dreaming and work extra harder!