Kenya’s capital Nairobi is the most expensive city to live in East Africa, while Uganda’s capital Kampala (177) is the least expensive.
According to the Mercer 2020 Cost of Living Survey, Nairobi is followed by Tanzania’s commercial hub Dar es Salaam (163) and Rwanda’s capital Kigali (176).
Globally, Nairobi was ranked as the 95th most expensive city to live in, rising two places from the 2019 rankings.
Seychelles’ capital Victoria is the most expensive city to live in Africa coming in at 14 globally followed by Chad’s Capital Ndjamena (15).
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Third in Africa is the Democratic Republic Congo’s capital Kinshasa (24). Gabon’s capital Libreville (33) and Côte D'ivoire’s Abidjan (36) wrap up the five most expensive cities to live in Africa.
Tunis (209) in Tunisia is the least expensive city in Africa and globally, followed by Windhoek (208) in Namibia, Banjul (204) in Gambia, Lusaka in Zambia and Gaborone (199) in Botswana.
The survey conducted in March 2020 is used by governments and multinational companies to set remunerations for their foreign-based employees.
“The COVID-19 pandemic reminds us that sending and keeping employees on international assignments is a huge responsibility and a difficult task to manage. Rather than bet on a dramatic resurgence of mobility, organizations should prepare for the redeployment of their mobile workforces,” said Ilya Bonic, Career President and Head of Mercer Strategy.
The study put into consideration the prices of over 200 items including food, housing, alcohol and tobacco, transportation and utilities.
“Factors such as currency fluctuations, cost inflation for goods and services, and instability of accommodation prices, are essential to determining the cost of expatriate packages for employees on international assignments,” the study revealed.
Globally, Hong Kong is the most expensive city to live in 2020 followed by Ashgabat in Turkmenistan, Tokyo in Japan, Zurich in Switzerland and Singapore.
