Dar es Salaam cheap city for expatriates

nngu007 · 2011-07-23T08:52:46+00:00

By In2EastAfrica - Sat Jul 23, 2:43 am Dar Es Salaam, Flickr Creative Commons Dar es Salaam is the second least expensive city in East Africa for expatriates, global consultancy firm Mercer's latest survey on the cost of living this year, says. This means Dar es Salaam is still an option for people who want to visit and work in East Africa, in a world where attracting foreign technocrats and diplomats, who are paid in foreign currency, is an impetus for spurring economies and improving relations between countries. Globally, Mercer's Cost of Living survey (2011) ranked Dar es Salaam, at 187, and Kigali in position 156. Kampala at position 202 in the world, having dropped 16 places. Nairobi, which supposedly has more foreign missions and international organisations, is at 108 down from 88 last year. Kampala is cited as the least expensive in the region followed by Dar es Salaam. On the continent, Dar es Salaam is 36, Kigali 29, Kampala 40 and Nairobi 23 out of the 43 countries surveyed in March and covered 214 cities worldwide. The survey compared costs of items such as food, housing, transport, entertainment and clothing. Its parameters for determining the cost of living are inflation, exchange rate fluctuation, security and natural disaster. A University of Dar es Salaam economist, Dr Peter Kasoga, said the factors that could have helped Dar es Salaam are the weakening shilling against the US dollar and euro. The Shilling recently hit a record low of 1560/- compared to when it was about 1380/- against the dollar this time last year. He said a weak shilling means it is less costly for a foreign firm to foot the bills of its workers in the country and the expatriate can spend less on goods and services than his colleague, for instance, in Sydney or Zurich under similar remuneration terms. Luanda, Angola's capital, remains the world's most expensive city to live in for the second consecutive year followed by Tokyo (Japan) and N'Djamena (Chad) in third place. Moscow follows in fourth position with Geneva in fifth and Osaka in sixth. Ms Nathalie Constantin-Metral, a senior researcher at Mercer, said the survey was designed to help multinational companies and governments determine compensation allowances for their expatriates. All cities are compared against New York. She said the issue of companies finding suitable accommodation for their employees in Africa is a big challenge. "The cost of living in cities across Europe has remained relatively stable, while in Africa the picture is patchy with the limited availability of accommodation leading to increased costs in key cities," she said. Pakistani capital Karachi is the cheapest city for expatriates in the world. According to the latest Cost of Living Survey from Mercer, Tokyo is in second position, with Ndjamena in Chad in third place. Moscow is in fourth position followed by Geneva in fifth while Karachi is ranked as the world's least expensive city. The survey found that Luanda is three times as costly as Karachi. From the survey, London (rank 17) is the UK's most expensive city, followed by Aberdeen (149), Glasgow (155), and Birmingham (158) while Belfast (182) is ranked as the UK's least expensive city. Luanda remains the most expensive city for expatriates across Africa and globally, and N'Djamena follows in third place. Libreville (12) has slipped five places since last year. Niamey remains at 23 whereas Victoria (25) in the Seychelles dropped 12 places as the Seychelles rupee has weakened against the US dollar. In South Africa, Johannesburg (131) and Cape Town (158) have leapt 20 and 13 places in the ranking respectively, reflecting the strengthening of the South African rand. The least expensive cities in the region are Tunis (207) and Addis Ababa (211). Source Tanzania Daily News

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Start date Jul 23, 2011

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Dar es Salaam cheap city for expatriates

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