LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network with over 722 million users across more than 200 countries and territories worldwide. As of February 2021, there were over 14 million LinkedIn members in Nigeria, making it the platform’s largest market in Africa. So yes, LinkedIn is definitely available to users in Nigeria.
In this article, we’ll provide an overview of LinkedIn’s availability and usage in Nigeria. We’ll cover topics such as:
- LinkedIn’s launch and growth in Nigeria
- LinkedIn membership and user statistics for Nigeria
- How Nigerians are using LinkedIn for business and career opportunities
- Key features and benefits of LinkedIn for users in Nigeria
- Challenges and limitations of using LinkedIn in Nigeria
Whether you are a business, organization, or professional interested in expanding your network and opportunities in Nigeria, this article will help give you an understanding of LinkedIn’s role in the country.
LinkedIn’s Launch and Growth in Nigeria
LinkedIn first became available in Nigeria in 2011, soon after the official launch of the platform across Africa in 2010. Nigeria quickly became LinkedIn’s largest market on the continent.
The professional networking platform saw rapid user growth in Nigeria for several reasons:
- Nigeria’s large, youthful population with increasing internet access and tech savvy
- High unemployment driving more Nigerians to find opportunities online
- A growing class of professionals in cities like Lagos, Abuja, and Port Harcourt
- Greater connection with the global business community provided by LinkedIn
Various initiatives from LinkedIn starting in 2015 helped accelerate its expansion in Nigeria. This included the opening of a sales office in Lagos to provide greater support for companies and advertisers.
LinkedIn has also held user conferences and workshops in Nigeria to help get more professionals and businesses using the platform effectively. The “LinkedIn Connected” event held in Lagos in 2018 drew over 5,000 attendees.
This concerted effort to develop the Nigerian market has directly contributed to LinkedIn’s rapid growth in the country.
LinkedIn Membership and User Statistics for Nigeria
Here are some key LinkedIn membership and user statistics specifically for Nigeria:
- Over 14 million users as of February 2021. This makes Nigeria LinkedIn’s largest market in Africa.
- Nigeria has the 6th largest LinkedIn audience globally behind only the US, India, China, UK, and Brazil.
- From 2015 to 2017, LinkedIn’s Nigerian userbase doubled from around 7 million to 14 million.
- Growth has slowed more recently but remains steady. From 2019 to 2021, membership increased from 12 million to 14 million.
- A survey in 2020 found 56% of Nigeria’s urban workforce were active LinkedIn members.
- Millennials and Gen Z represent the majority of Nigerian LinkedIn users at over 60% of members.
- Lagos has the largest membership among Nigerian cities with over 1.7 million users based in the city.
- In terms of professions, software developers, marketing specialists, and business analysts are among the most common in Nigeria.
This data illustrates how deeply LinkedIn has penetrated the Nigerian workforce and become entrenched as an invaluable professional networking tool in the country. The platform’s continued growth also points to its ongoing relevance within Nigeria.
How Nigerians Are Using LinkedIn
Based on LinkedIn’s prevalence in Nigeria, what are the key ways Nigerian professionals and businesses are utilizing the platform?
Finding Employment Opportunities
With Nigeria’s high youth unemployment rate hovering around 30%, LinkedIn has become one of the top online resources for Nigerians to find job and career opportunities.
Some of the key ways unemployed Nigerians use LinkedIn to get hired include:
- Expanding their professional network beyond friends and family
- Following leading companies in their industries for potential job openings
- Researching and contacting recruiters at organizations they want to work for
- Applying to jobs advertised directly on LinkedIn by companies
- Promoting themselves to recruiters by building a compelling, keyword-rich profile
Professional Development and Training
In addition to employment, Nigerian professionals leverage LinkedIn Learning and LinkedIn courses to pick up valuable hard and soft skills. Some prime examples are:
- Technical skills like web development, graphic design, and data science
- Business and management training through video courses
- Global certifications that boost resume credentials
- Communications and interpersonal skills
- Data-driven online seminars and workshops
This access to practical digital education helps Nigerians expand their career opportunities and fill key skills gaps.
Business Marketing
Nigerian businesses and organizations actively utilize LinkedIn for marketing in the following ways:
- Implementing LinkedIn ad campaigns to reach B2B leads and decision makers
- Developing their brand image and following through company pages
- Joining and engaging with relevant LinkedIn groups and communities
- Publishing blog posts and articles to establish thought leadership
- Sponsoring LinkedIn newsletters and content to increase visibility
The platform’s targeting capabilities allow Nigerian brands to home in on their ideal audiences and accelerate growth.
Networking and Communication
At its core, LinkedIn facilitates networking amongst professionals. Nigerians connect and engage on LinkedIn to:
- Keep in touch and collaborate with business contacts
- Reach out to industry experts for career advice
- Build relationships with potential partners and clients
- Interact with colleagues, co-workers, and teammates
- Participate in group discussions based on shared interests or affiliations
This networking empowers all types of productive business relationships. It also helps Nigerians expand their reach and opportunities beyond geographical limitations.
Gathering Business Intelligence
Lastly, LinkedIn grants Nigerian professionals valuable business intelligence for decision making and strategizing. The platform enables users to:
- Research target companies or competitors through employee profiles and pages
- Gain market and industry insights from influencers, groups, and published content
- Identify trends and monitor news using LinkedIn’s curated feed
- Connect with leaders who can share experiential knowledge
- Assess potential partners or vendors based on their LinkedIn presence
This business intelligence helps Nigerians reduce risk and make smarter choices in negotiations, hiring, partnerships, and other dealings.
Key LinkedIn Features and Benefits for Nigerian Users
LinkedIn offers Nigerian professionals and businesses a suite of features and benefits that underpin its value. Some of the most impactful include:
Profile Building
Nigerians can create professional profiles showcasing their background, skills, experiences, accomplishments, education, certifications, and other credentials. This provides a powerful representation of their personal brand.
Comprehensive Networking
Expanding connections on LinkedIn allows Nigerian users to develop an extensive professional network. This network becomes a valuable communication channel and career resource.
Targeted Job Search
LinkedIn’s job portal permits Nigerians to find open roles filtered by industry, location, company, job function, and other criteria. Users can tailor and save job searches while enabling recruiter outreach.
Business Marketing
Companies in Nigeria leverage LinkedIn for precise B2B marketing using native ads, sponsored content, company pages, andShowcase Pages. Advanced analytics provide insight into campaign performance.
Learning and Development
The in-depth LinkedIn Learning platform and course catalog empowers Nigerians to gain must-have business, technology, and creative skills through online training.
News and Information
Nigerian users stay on top of relevant news, ideas, and trends using LinkedIn’s customizable feed populated with industry influencer and company updates.
Groups and Community
LinkedIn groups based on professional interests, industries, higher education, and more enable Nigerian networking around shared affiliations and goals.
Local Support
With an established office presence and on-the-ground team in Nigeria, LinkedIn offers more direct support to users and advertisers in the country.
By providing these solutions and features tailored specifically for business use, LinkedIn has become embedded in Nigeria’s professional ecosystem at multiple levels.
Challenges and Limitations of LinkedIn in Nigeria
Despite LinkedIn’s popularity in Nigeria, users still face some challenges and limitations:
Low Internet Penetration in Rural Areas
LinkedIn engagement remains primarily an urban phenomenon in Nigeria. Lower internet connectivity in rural towns restricts access. Only 33% of rural Nigerians had internet access according to a late 2019 survey.
Variable Internet Quality
Unreliable power supplies and internet infrastructure in parts of Nigeria affect user experience on data-heavy platforms like LinkedIn. Connectivity issues can discourage regular site usage.
Cost of Paid Services and Features
While LinkedIn offers a range of free services, premium features tailored for career enhancement and business marketing come at relatively high costs due to foreign exchange rates. This bars participation for some.
Limited Ad Relevance
Some Nigerian marketers report lower LinkedIn ad accuracy due to minimal local data centers and targeting limitations based on region-specific user attributes and interests.
Scams and Fraudulent Accounts
As with most social networks, scam accounts operate on LinkedIn to spread false information, collect user data, distribute malware, and phish for money. These undermine trust.
Spam Messaging
Unwanted, unsolicited messages from anonymous accounts plague some Nigerian users. Typically these aim to drive traffic to outside platforms or services.
To facilitate greater mainstream adoption in Nigeria, LinkedIn must continue enhancing its localization for the market. Tighter controls on scams and spam alongside more flexible, affordable premium services can also help address common pain points.
Conclusion
In the past decade, LinkedIn has rapidly expanded its footprint in Nigeria to become one of the country’s most indispensable professional networking tools. Millions of users in cities like Lagos and Abuja turn to LinkedIn daily for career and business opportunities.
Despite some ongoing limitations, LinkedIn provides Nigerian professionals with unparalleled access to employers, business contacts, industry influencers, and continuing education. Nigerian brands are also capitalizing on LinkedIn advertising and content marketing to spur growth.
Moving forward, we can expect LinkedIn’s member base in Nigeria to continue growing as digital transformation accelerates across industries. The platform is poised to be an instrumental tech resource for empowering both individual livelihoods and national economic development across Nigeria.
Year | LinkedIn Members in Nigeria |
---|---|
2015 | 7 million |
2017 | 14 million |
2019 | 12 million |
2021 | 14 million |
City | LinkedIn Members |
---|---|
Lagos | Over 1.7 million |
Abuja | Over 500,000 |
Ibadan | Over 200,000 |
Port Harcourt | Over 150,000 |
Profession | LinkedIn Members in Nigeria |
---|---|
Software developers | Over 300,000 |
Marketing specialists | Over 250,000 |
Business analysts | Over 200,000 |
Accountants | Over 150,000 |
Project managers | Over 100,000 |