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Moving to Lagos

STR Visas and CERPAC Cards

If you’re coming here longer-term for work, you’ll need to enter the country on an STR (subject to regularization) visa. These can only be applied for at a consulate or embassy in your home country. After entering the country on this visa, you’ll be able to apply for a CERPAC (Combined Expatriate Residence Permit and Aliens Card) which allows you to stay and work.

If you’re coming here to work for a local company, they’ve likely already received an expat quota for you (approval from the government to hire a foreigner). In this case, getting an STR visa should be fairly straightforward (although be forewarned that it can take a month to process so you should plan to be without your passport for 6+ weeks to be safe).

If you’re coming on your own, you’ll need to apply for an expat quota yourself through a company you register. For me, this process took about 1.5 years from start to finish and involved numerous lawyers, delays, and headaches. It is not easy.

Bank Accounts

As of 2024, Bank accounts now generally require both an NIN (National Identification number) and a BVN (Bank verification number). You can get a BVN at just about any physical bank. They will have you fill out some forms, take your fingerprints, and then give you the BVN. You can get your NIN after you receive a CERPAC card (although I’ve had some friends get an NIN without one).

With a bank account you’ll be able to do instant bank transfers and get a debit card, making your stay here much more convenient. You can get money into your Nigerian bank account by either taking physical cash to a Bureau de Change and asking them to credit your account or through the help of a friend (you send them money abroad and in return they credit your account locally). You can also use your foreign bank card with a service like Sendcash or Send from Flutterwave

Finding an Apartment

I’d recommend first deciding on a neighborhood to constrain your search. We love living in Lekki Phase 1 because it’s got great street life and is a good balance between affordability and convenience. Many expats get funneled to Banana Island which is really unfortunate - it’s expensive, cloistered, and dealing with security on and off the island is very painful. I would not recommend it. Outside of Lekki Phase 1, VI and Ikoyi are good bets.

We used Property Pro and Nigerian Property Center to look for apartments and then reached out to realtors so they could show us only the places we were interested in. Keep in mind that there’s adverse selection in places that have been on the market for a long time so sort apartments by “most recent” and be ready to pounce on a good place when you see it.

This is more efficient than going to a bunch of random places that a realtor will show you. Instead of trying to find the apartment before we moved, we booked a short-let for a month which gave us time to search and find a place we were really excited about.

Expect to pay 1 year’s rent up-front and both a realtors fee, a legal fee, and a refundable caution fee. You’ll typically send money to a law firm (hence the legal fee) who brokers the transaction.

You’ll have some leverage to get the landlord to fix things before you pay and move in, but afterwards expect to handle most repairs yourself. Landlords are much more hands-off here than you might be used to (the benefit of this is that there’s much greater leeway to paint / make modifications yourself).

Home Furnishings

I highly recommend Taeillo for furniture. Their lead times are long but the quality is great. Otherwise, most furniture here is custom made by artisans and can vary a lot in quality. LSA company has nice bedding.

Groceries

Supermart and Pricepally have been great for grocery delivery.

For more exotic produce, you can also check out The Grocery Lady who ships weekly from Jos (middle of the country where the climate is temperate and great produce is grown). Make sure to order a lot of (opioro / tommy) mangos during mango season!

In terms of grocery stores there are many. We usually shop at Prince Ebeano in Lekki because it’s close to us, but our favorite supermarket is probably Hartleys, followed by Renee.

Ecommerce

Jumia and Konga are the Amazon equivalents here and are pretty good, but have somewhat limited selection and usually take a few days to deliver. Our favorite marketplace is Jiji (the African version of craigslist but better). You just Whatsapp the supplier and inquire about availability / price. They will dispatch a delivery rider to your doorstep, often the same day, and you can pay on delivery.

You can also order things from Amazon in the US via services like Heroshe. The product gets shipped to their warehouse in Texas or the UK and will arrive to you in Lagos in about 2 weeks.

Because of instant bank transfers, a lot of commerce happens over social media, particularly for fashion. If you’re struggling to source something, look on instagram!

Other Tips

  • Use your network. Whenever you encounter a problem here, your first instinct should be to ask around and find someone who can help. In the US or Europe, formal systems generally work and can be relied upon for getting things done. In Nigeria, formal systems are often broken so trusted contacts are relied upon for getting things done.
  • Having a local contact to sort out random errands while you are getting your apartment setup is invaluable. If you don’t know anyone, consider finding an assistant via upwork.
  • You'll want a home fiber network. Some common providers on the Island / Lekki areas are FiberOne, ipNX, and Cobranet but just ask around and see what your neighbors use. 5G from MTN is also increasingly common and pretty good. Star Link is an option but will be less reliable during rainy season.