Angolas capital, Luanda, retained the unenviable distinction of being the worlds most expensive city for expatriates, for the second year running.
According to the Mercer 2011 Cost of Living Survey released this month, a foreigner will cough more for a cup of coffee in Luanda than in Japans capital, Tokyo perennially the most expensive city.
If you hole up in Luanda, whose natural beauty is somewhat stained by the seedy bairros (townships), youre likely to spend three times what you could have spent in Karachi, Pakistan- the least expensive city in the world, according to the Mercer survey.
Should you go hungry in Luanda, just know that a meal in a ritzy joint will cost not less than $100 (Sh8,900), while a decent roof over your head will dent $15, 000 a month (Sh1.3 million), says the Mercer survey.
Feeling like a sandwich perhaps? Well, that washed down with soda costs $20.38 (Sh1,813) compared to $3.57 (Sh312) for a fast meal in Shanghai, China.
Just ask journalist Charles Nyende. I paid $200 (Sh17,800) a night for a rudimentary lodging (he found the hotels fully booked) with bed sheets, tap water nothing luxurious. Buffet is weighed, the heavier it is, the more you pay, and foreigners are charged in dollars in his case $20.2 (Sh1,800), a plate.
Nyende was covering the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations and taxi fares to the stadium came to $200 (Sh17,800) to, and from the hotel.
Renting a luxury, two-bedroom unfurnished apartment costs an average of $7,000 (Sh623,000).
The same would cost $4,300 (Sh382,700) in New York, $2,456 (Sh218,284) in Rome, Italy and $1,800 (Sh160,200) in Buenos Aires, Argentina, according to Mercer.
Angolans speak Umbundu, Kimbundu and Kikongo but you might consider speaking the official language, Portuguese when booking accommodation at the swanky Alavade Hotel in Luanda.
A single room there costs $422 (Sh37,558) a night. Double rooms go for $509 (Sh45,301). A local beer costs an average $4.4 (Sh400).
Never mind 60 per cent of Angolas 17.3 million population - as per 2009 estimates - lives in blighting poverty, with most of it surviving on less than $2 (Sh178) a day, according to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP.)
Source: Daily Nation
According to the Mercer 2011 Cost of Living Survey released this month, a foreigner will cough more for a cup of coffee in Luanda than in Japans capital, Tokyo perennially the most expensive city.
If you hole up in Luanda, whose natural beauty is somewhat stained by the seedy bairros (townships), youre likely to spend three times what you could have spent in Karachi, Pakistan- the least expensive city in the world, according to the Mercer survey.
Should you go hungry in Luanda, just know that a meal in a ritzy joint will cost not less than $100 (Sh8,900), while a decent roof over your head will dent $15, 000 a month (Sh1.3 million), says the Mercer survey.
Feeling like a sandwich perhaps? Well, that washed down with soda costs $20.38 (Sh1,813) compared to $3.57 (Sh312) for a fast meal in Shanghai, China.
Just ask journalist Charles Nyende. I paid $200 (Sh17,800) a night for a rudimentary lodging (he found the hotels fully booked) with bed sheets, tap water nothing luxurious. Buffet is weighed, the heavier it is, the more you pay, and foreigners are charged in dollars in his case $20.2 (Sh1,800), a plate.
Nyende was covering the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations and taxi fares to the stadium came to $200 (Sh17,800) to, and from the hotel.
Renting a luxury, two-bedroom unfurnished apartment costs an average of $7,000 (Sh623,000).
The same would cost $4,300 (Sh382,700) in New York, $2,456 (Sh218,284) in Rome, Italy and $1,800 (Sh160,200) in Buenos Aires, Argentina, according to Mercer.
Angolans speak Umbundu, Kimbundu and Kikongo but you might consider speaking the official language, Portuguese when booking accommodation at the swanky Alavade Hotel in Luanda.
A single room there costs $422 (Sh37,558) a night. Double rooms go for $509 (Sh45,301). A local beer costs an average $4.4 (Sh400).
Never mind 60 per cent of Angolas 17.3 million population - as per 2009 estimates - lives in blighting poverty, with most of it surviving on less than $2 (Sh178) a day, according to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP.)
Source: Daily Nation
