At some point, you’ve probably thought, “How can I invest in dollar investment in Nigeria?” or “What Dollar investment opportunities are open to Nigerians?”. At the rate at which the dollar is rising every day, you may have done the maths and realised how much money you could have made if you invested your naira in dollars. 

As the saying goes, the best time to invest in dollars was 5 years ago; the next best time is now. It is never too late to start this journey. Here’s your ultimate guide for dollar investment in Nigeria.

Why Dollar investment in Nigeria ?

Before you begin your dollar investment in Nigeria journey, it is important to know why you are doing it, and what’s in it for you.

Let’s consider 2 investors, Harry and Sally; each has ₦100,000 to invest in June, 2021. Sally chooses to invest in dollars and Harry in naira. They both found investment opportunities offering the same 10% annual return.

Sally converted her money at ₦500 to $1, which gave her $200 to invest. One year later, they compared their returns:

Harry’s ₦100,000 investment was now worth ₦110,000 and Sally’s $200 was worth $220. Both increased by 10%. But today, a dollar is trading at ₦700 to $1. So Sally’s $220 is worth ₦154,000. In naira terms, she made a 54% return! 44% of the return came from the rise in the dollar relative to the naira.

You might be thinking this only makes sense as long as the naira keeps falling, and you would be right to think that; Naira cannot fall forever.

Even back when the naira was still stable, investors still sought to keep some of their funds in dollars because it is the global reserve currency and is backed by the most powerful nation on earth, the US. The dollar is a powerful currency that gives investors confidence that their funds will not sharply fall in value and access to world-class investment options

How to invest in dollars investment in Nigeria

Now that you know what’s in it for you, how can you invest in dollars? What dollar investments are there in Nigeria??

There are 5 main platforms you can use for dollar investment in Nigeria:

  • Risevest
  • Bamboo
  • Chaka
  • Cowrywise
  • Trovefinance

Risevest

Risevest offers users dollar investment opportunities in 3 primary asset classes: stocks, real estate and fixed income. These asset classes were designed to suit each investor’s risk appetite. If you are not comfortable taking risks and would like a stable investment with low risk, the fixed income option, which offers a fixed return of 10%, is for you.

What is Fixed Income?

Fixed income, according to Investopedia, is a type of investment security that pays investors fixed interest or dividend payments at the end of its maturity date. 

On Rise, our fixed income plan is like having a fixed deposit in another currency, the USD. It is ideal for investors who want to protect their money at very minimum risk. This type of investment pays investors both their principal investments and interests at maturity.

Real Estate:

If you are comfortable taking some risk but not too much risk, and are interested in dollar investment in Nigeria, the Real estate option on Rise, which offers returns between 12% and 15%, is worth considering. Rise buys or rents high demand properties in the US below market value, then rents out or sells them on the open US market and pays returns to our investors, ensuring that they are profitable.

Stocks:

If you don’t mind taking even more risk, the stock portfolio, which has historically delivered a 14% return per annum, might be the way to go. Rise helps you invest and manage your money by investing in our portfolio of 30 high-growth stocks across the US market with our equity portfolio of power stocks.

We allow investors to take a hands-off approach to investing. All investors need to do is deposit on the platform, and a team of experts that manages Rise’s investment portfolio will manage their funds.

And if you’re not yet ready to start investing, Rise offers a wallet function that gives investors an 8% return per annum on the funds they leave there.

Rise also has the option for you to set direct debits every month. So as soon as your salary comes in, your account is debited automatically to invest in your portfolio of choice.

You can deposit your naira directly on the platform, and we’ll do the conversion for you at the rate shown on the app. You can also fund your account directly with dollars if you have that. To start investing with Rise, you just need a minimum of $10.

We also regularly publish content that keeps our users updated on what’s happening in the markets, and how we are investing users’ money. Our rich content bank explains investing in simple everyday language using stories and interesting graphics. And this makes dollar investment in Nigeria easy.

Fees

Rise does not charge management fees on investments with returns below 5%. If you invest less than $1,000 on Rise, you get charged a 1% management fee on the total amount you invest. And you get charged a 0.5% management fee if you invest more than $1,000 on Rise.

There is a ₦35 bank transfer fee on processing withdrawals to accounts

If you deposit from a naira card, you will be charged a deposit fee from 1.4% to (1.5% + ₦100) per transaction and capped at ₦2,000.

If you deposit from a dollar card, you will be charged a deposit fee from 2.9% to (3.9% + ₦100) per transaction and this has no upper limit.

Bamboo

Bamboo gives investors the platform to be more hands on with their investing. They offer dollar investment opportunities in US traded stocks. People with Nigerian bank accounts can set up an account and begin trading US stocks with an initial investment of $20. Bamboo converts naira deposited to dollars so users can buy the stocks of their choice.

Bamboo also has a content bank which covers stock market basics, and more sophisticated analysis of stocks. They regularly share their stock watchlist with users via email. They also give users the option of earning returns from leaving dollars in their Bamboo wallet. Users can earn up to 8% per annum on funds they leave in their wallets.

Fees

Bamboo charges 1.5% of the total amount you trade with every time you buy or sell US stocks. If you have more than $10,000 invested in Bamboo, you will be upgraded to a gold account which, among several other benefits, reduces your trading fee from 1.5% per trade to 1%.

Bamboo always displays all associated fees for every transaction on the ‘review order page’ before you confirm, so you can choose to cancel the order if you’re not happy with the final cost/gain fees.

Bamboo charges ₦150 for transfers from a naira bank account, ₦2,000 for transfers from a naira debit or credit card and $29 for transfers from a US debit or credit card. They charge a ₦45 payment processing fee for withdrawals to naira bank accounts and a $45 fee for withdrawals to dollar bank accounts.

Chaka

Chaka gives users the option to be hands-on or hands-off with their investment. They allow users to buy US traded stocks and/or deposit their funds on the platform and allow their team of experts to invest their funds in stocks on their behalf through a feature called SmartInvest.

On SmartInvest, users get asked a few questions and based on their answers to those questions, they get an expert recommended portfolio. The minimum initial investment on Chaka is $10.

Fees

Chaka employs a dynamic fee structure based on your 30-day trade value, which is simply the sum of trades you’ve made in the last 30 days, including the current trade. Fees are then calculated based on the fee band you would be in after a trade is completed, not the current fee band you are in when the order is placed.

Trade ValueTrade fees
$0 – $2001.5%
$200 – $1,0001%
$1,000 – $10,0000.85%
$10,000 – $50,0000.75%
$50,000+0.69%

The fees are structured this way to encourage more trading activity. The more you trade, the lower the fees you pay per trade.

For trading local stocks, the Broker commission is 0.5% or ₦100.

Cowrywise

Cowrywise offers mutual funds that can be denominated in dollar or naira. A mutual fund is a collection of money from different people that is given to a single entity called a fund manager to invest in things like shares, real estate, bonds etc.

Cowrywise gives users a risk assessment which includes a couple of questions that will help you understand your appetite and attitude towards risk. Based on the outcome of that test, Cowrywise will recommend some funds for you to invest. You can either choose from their recommended funds or go to all funds and choose from there.

The minimum initial investment of $10.

Fees

Cowrywise charges a 1.5% processing fee when you buy or sell mutual funds on the platform. They also charge a management fee depending on the fund you choose. The management fee is deducted from the returns your investment makes. They also charge a ₦35 fee on withdrawals.

Trove

Trove is another platform that allows users to fully control how their money is invested. They offer almost 4,000 stocks traded in the US and Nigeria. They give users access to analyst reports, regulatory filings and breaking news from the companies traded on the platform.

The minimum initial investment on Trove is also $10.

Fees

When you buy Nigerian stocks on Trove, you are charged

Brokerage fees of 1.35% of the total value of the transaction

and 0.30% of the total value of the transaction by the SEC (Securities & Exchange Commission). VAT of 7.5% is charged on the 1.65% total brokerage and SEC fees. Platform charges of 0.5%, Stamp Duty of 0.075%, and CSCS (Central Securities Clearing System) Trade Alert of ₦4.20.

When you sell Nigerian stocks on Trove, you are charged

Brokerage fees of 1.35% of the total value of the transaction,

0.30% of the total value of the transaction by the NSE (Nigerian Stock Exchange),

Then VAT of 7.5% is charged on the 1.65% total brokerage and SEC fees

Then platform charges of 0.5%, Stamp Duty of 0.075% and CSCS Trade Alert of ₦4.20

Trove charges 1% of the total amount you trade with for every time you buy or sell US stocks.

Deposits made using debit/credit charges attract a payment gateway fee of 1.5% and ₦100 for transactions over ₦2,500. Deposits and withdrawals made using bank transfers are completely free.

Trove displays all associated fees for every transaction on the review order page before confirming, so you don’t have to worry about doing any complex maths. You can choose to cancel the order if you’re unhappy with the final cost/gain after fees.

Fee Summary Table


Company
Management Fee/Trading FeeDeposit Fee
Withdrawal Fee
Naira cardDollar card
RiseUp to 1%1.4% to (1.5% + ₦100) capped at ₦2,0002.9% to (3.9% + ₦100)₦35
BambooUp to 1.5%₦150 for bank transfer₦2,000 for Debit/credit card transfer$29₦45 for naira withdrawal$45 for dollar bank account withdrawal
ChakaUp to 1.5%1.5%3.9%₦0
CowrywiseFund dependent1.5% capped at ₦2,000N/A₦35
Trove1%1.5% + ₦1001.5% + ₦100₦0