Naira Life Vol 180

Good Morning, 🌞

How much do Nigerians actually earn? What do people bring home, hustle for, rake together across multiple streams? That data barely exists in one place. We want to change that.

The team is building an income report: a single, honest reference point for how Nigerians living in the country make money. We chose income as the anchor because it's the foundation of all financial decision-making, and every other touchpoint in personal finance springs from it. You can't talk about saving, spending, or investing without first understanding what's coming in. We think that story deserves to be told properly.

To tell it, we need you.

We've put together a short, completely anonymous survey. It'll only take a few minutes. What you share helps us build something that reflects the real financial lives of Nigerians.

Take the survey here.

If you believe this work matters, send the link to someone who should be in it, too.

In this letter:

• #NairaLife: The 25-Year-Old Who Keeps Trying (and Failing) To Turn Her Potential Into Income
• Love Currency: “He Hands Over All His Money to Me. People Don’t Like That”
• Inside the Informal Economy of a Lagos Mechanic Village
• Where The Money At?!

This graduate has gone from financial comfort to earning as little as ₦35k/month and, recently, no income at all. Despite gaining several skills along the way, she’s struggled with consistency and follow-through.

Now, she’s hoping to break the cycle.

Saving doesn’t stop life from happening.

When things come up, Carbon doesn’t force you to choose between progress and survival. Your locked savings keep growing, and you can use it as collateral to access a loan at just 3% interest.

It’s saving, built different so you can move different.

Sayo* (29) and Timi* (31) have been married for two years.

For #LoveCurrency, Sayo talks about their unconventional approach to handling their finances, the pushback they’ve faced from others, and their plans for the future. Read the full story here.

You've budgeted. You've manifested. You've eaten at home for three weeks straight.

The money still isn't adding up. Maybe it's time to focus less on cutting and more on earning.

In the heart of a Lagos mechanic village, two 55-year-old veterans are fighting to keep their trade alive against the tides of economic hardship and technological change.

This is an inside look at the men who fix the cars that drive Nigeria’s economy, proving that their informal sector is anything but disorganised.