Rwanda’s capital Kigali has been ranked the second least expensive city in East Africa after Kampala (Uganda), according to a newly released Mercer 2020 Cost of Living Survey.
The results of the survey seen by APA on Wednesday finds that specific 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.
Properly vetting locations and compensating employees on international assignments is as important as it can be costly.
Mercer’s survey shows that costs of goods and services shift with inflation and currency volatility making overseas assignment costs sometimes greater and
sometimes smaller.
Ndjamena, Chad (15) is the highest ranked city in Africa while Tunis (209) in Tunisia ranks as the least expensive city in the region and globally.
Hong Kong (1) retained its spot as the most expensive city for expatriates both in Asia and globally due to currency movements measured against the US dollar and driving up the cost of living locally, according to the survey.
Based on data collected in March, the study reveals that the majority of African cities climbed up the list, bringing about more expensive lives for expatriates.
The Ugandan capital, for instance, has risen six positions from 2019 rankings.
In the East African region, Nairobi comes in at the top and 95th worldwide.
The Kenyan capital is followed by Tanzania’s commercial hub Dar es Salaam.
Victoria, the capital of Seychelles takes the top spot in Africa and 14th globally, beating Chad’s capital N’djamena.
The Central African city was leading last year, ranking 11th.
CU/as/APA