Thank you for attending this month’s edition of Conversations @ INDIGO where we looked at The Lagos Money Culture, as a way to understand our various spending habits in Lagos. Here are some of the pictures and notes from the day.
Our spending habit in Lagos is designed towards a constant need to project our status
Chioma Opara, the September conversation leader
Why is it that there is the ultimate paradox where in Lagos, everyone is hustling to make money but it appears that once it is made, the money is spent with as much effort as it is made, only to start the cycle all over again, making a lot of money but living hand to mouth.
There is a very strong desire to communicate a perceived acceptable status level at every opportunity, which poses a financial burden but is also important to attract the ideal customer or client. Everything, well almost, is about packaging, creating the mirage of success.
Why is this? Because it is important to project money, to ooze to be respected or so it seems, but this presents the need to re-evaluate and redefine relationships, friendships and avoid peer pressure.
It also means that the relationship with money needs to be evaluated, money as a tool rather than as it seems to be the case, money as the end result in itself.
This is pertinent now as more and more young people are having to be entrepreneurs, there is a need to be financially savvy, and literate about how much one makes and how much one keeps.
How you use money is a reflection of where you are as a person
**The Conversations Challenge**
When next you spend some time with friends, share some of your money challenges and perception and ask for theirs too.
It is not how much you make, it is how much of it you keep.
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We look forward to seeing you at the next edition of Conversations @ INDIGO in October and you can register for the next edition here
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Conversations @ INDIGO is a free monthly event organised by INDIGO, the researcher workspace, an initiative of The Sahara Centre – an organization that seeks to advance the socio-cultural dimension of sustainable development in Nigeria.
We are a research-focused organization, working to develop insights that guide evidence-based decision making. For more information about our activities, please visit www.saharacentre.org
