Once you have a job and a few gigs going, your next naira should start working for you. Lagos Life has four places to put money: businesses, a haulage trailer, land and property. They behave very differently, so it is worth understanding each before you click Buy.
Businesses: daily cash
Phone β Invest lists eight businesses. Each one pays once a day in the evening. On a normal day you get a random amount inside its income range, minus fixed running costs. On a bad day (8β10% chance) you lose a fixed amount instead: the network goes down at the kiosk, NEPA takes light at the barber, the task force shuts the club for a night.
That gives a clear expected profit per day and a payback time:
| Business | Price | Daily income range | Running cost/day | Expected profit/day | Payback |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| πΆ Recharge & Data Kiosk | β¦150k | β¦2,500 β β¦5,000 | β¦1,800 | β¦1,555 | 97 days |
| π₯€ Zobo & Chapman Stand | β¦300k | β¦5,000 β β¦9,000 | β¦3,200 | β¦3,070 | 98 days |
| π§ POS Stand | β¦500k | β¦5,000 β β¦11,500 | β¦2,000 | β¦5,175 | 97 days |
| π Buka (Mama Put) | β¦2.5M | β¦30,000 β β¦61,000 | β¦18,000 | β¦22,800 | 110 days |
| π Barbing Salon | β¦6M | β¦66,000 β β¦133,000 | β¦40,000 | β¦51,340 | 117 days |
| 𧽠Car Wash | β¦15M | β¦167,000 β β¦309,000 | β¦105,000 | β¦114,760 | 131 days |
| πͺ Event Centre | β¦60M | β¦585,000 β β¦1,171,000 | β¦430,000 | β¦371,200 | 162 days |
| πͺ© Quilox Share (5%) | β¦250M | β¦1,795,000 β β¦3,585,000 | β¦1,150,000 | β¦1,328,800 | 189 days |
| π Mack Haulage Trailer | β¦18M | β¦117,000 β β¦209,000 | β¦30,000 | β¦114,760 | 157 days |
How to read it:
- Payback is how many days of average profit it takes to earn back the price. The cheap stands and the big ones all land between about 95 and 190 days of game time. In practice that is slower than it sounds early on, because your money is small, and faster later, because you will own several.
- Bad days matter more for small businesses. A kiosk's β¦2,000 bad-day loss wipes out more than a normal day's profit.
- The trailer is different. The Mack Haulage Trailer costs β¦18M, needs a β¦30,000 driver every day, and breaks down 8% of the time for a β¦95,000 repair. You can own up to three.
You can sell a business back for 60% of its price, so do not buy one you plan to flip.
Economy news changes the numbers
Every week the phone shows "Lagos business news". Some weeks are quiet; others move income for specific businesses and land prices for specific areas:
Owambe Season is the best week to own a Buka, an Event Centre or a Barbing Salon. Fuel Scarcity and Apapa Gridlock hurt the trailer. Flooding is bad for Lekki land and good for car washes. The business news card tells you what is coming before it starts.
A sensible order
- Recharge & Data Kiosk (β¦150k) or POS Stand (β¦500k)
- Zobo & Chapman Stand (β¦300k) to fill the gap
- Buka (β¦2.5M): first big jump in daily profit
- Barbing Salon (β¦6M), then Car Wash (β¦15M)
- A haulage trailer (β¦18M) if you want variety
- Event Centre (β¦60M), then the Quilox 5% share (β¦250M)
Land: slow, steady, illiquid
Land grows every week and compounds. It pays nothing until you sell, and selling costs 5%:
| Plot | Price | Weekly growth | Omo-onile risk | Break-even | Value after 12 weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| π± Imota, Ikorodu | β¦250k | 2.5% | 40% | 3 wks | β¦336k |
| π΄ Ikorodu | β¦1.5M | 2.5% | 35% | 3 wks | β¦2.02M |
| π³ Epe | β¦2.5M | 3.75% | 30% | 2 wks | β¦3.89M |
| ποΈ Ibeju-Lekki | β¦4M | 5% | 20% | 2 wks | β¦7.18M |
| ποΈ Lekki Phase 2 | β¦15M | 3.13% | 5% | 2 wks | β¦21.7M |
| ποΈ Banana Island | β¦150M | 1.88% | 0% | 3 wks | β¦187M |
- Imota and Ikorodu grow fastest in percentage terms but carry 35β40% omo-onile risk, meaning land grabbers may turn up and demand a fee (10% of the plot) to leave you alone.
- Lekki Phase 2 is the balanced pick: decent growth and little trouble.
- Banana Island grows slowest but has zero omo-onile risk. It is a parking spot for very large sums.
- You can hold a limited number of plots, and economy events move prices up or down for a week.
Land is a good home for money you will not need for months. It is a bad first investment because it gives you nothing to reinvest.
Property and rentals
Every home you buy (not rent) can be leased to other players. You set a weekly rent inside a band around the market price and choose the lease length. There is also a Lagos Property Fund that pays about 1% a week on a minimum β¦1M deposit, with a 5% exit fee. It is passive and simple, but slower than a good business.
Insurance: worth it once you own things
The Assurance app sells cover for six things:
| Cover | What it pays for | Linked risks |
|---|---|---|
| π Home | Fire, flood and storm damage at the home you live in | π₯ Fire at Homeπ Flood DamageβοΈ Storm Damage |
| πΊ Possessions | Burglary and theft: TVs, laptops, consoles, art, and your phone | π₯·πΎ Burglaryπ± Phone Snatched |
| π Vehicle | Road accidents and break-ins, every car in your garage | πͺ Car Break-inπ₯ Road Accident |
| π©Ί Health | Medical emergencies and hospital admissions | π Medical Emergency |
| πͺ Business | Fire and break-ins at the businesses you own | π§― Wahala at Your Business |
| π Investments | Softens what bad economic news does to your businesses', trailers' and buses' takings |
Premiums renew weekly and nothing is refunded if you cancel. The app shows your personal risk list for the week (for example burglary and flood are higher in Banana Island and coastal Lekki). Insure the biggest risk you can't afford to absorb, usually business cover once you own a Car Wash or bigger.
Tax
Income tax is weekly and only starts once you earn over β¦1 million in a week:
| Weekly earnings | Rate |
|---|---|
| Up to β¦1,000,000 | 0% |
| β¦1,000,000 β β¦10,000,000 | 20% |
| β¦10,000,000 β β¦50,000,000 | 30% |
| Above β¦50,000,000 | 35% |
Most early players never pay it. Once businesses pay six figures a day, budget for it.
Big Man prices
Rich accounts pay more for the same things. Once your net worth passes β¦1 billion, activity prices at venues are multiplied by 10; above β¦100 billion by 50; above β¦1 trillion by 100. Casino stakes and limits scale the same way. This is why a player sitting on a trillion naira saw a Lekki Phase 2 plot listed at β¦750 million. If you want things cheap, stay rich but not that rich.
When the EFCC gets interested
Sudden jumps in wealth, big transfers in and out, and lifestyle audits trigger EFCC files. Growing through businesses and land is explainable; receiving β¦10 billion from a stranger is not. See EFCC and the police.
Questions players ask
Numbers come from the live game build and may change after updates.