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Electricity and internet are not cheap in Africa. They are even costlier here. Cost of living is even higher in Africa. A tourist from Detroit visited few weeks

by ejanus 9y ago

Electricity and internet are not cheap in Africa. They are even costlier here. Cost of living is even higher in Africa. A tourist from Detroit visited few weeks ago, he was surprised that the cost of a plate of decent meal is higher in Africa. Standard of living should be compared along with cost of living.

ejanus 9y ago
Why voting me down? Please share your experience.
sdenton4 9y ago
deadbeef is, indeed, heavily subsidized in the US: those $1 McDonalds hamburgers are a bit of an anomaly. When I was living in Kisumu, I could get a decent meal that wouldn't kill me for a few dollars; I believe there were cheaper options for people with hardier stomachs. Meanwhile, US mobile data prices are some of the highest in the world. I spend ~$40 month in the US for 2GB of data (before getting capped to low speeds). The last time I was in Kenya, 1GB ran about $4-5, so about 1/5 the price of my US plan. India (post-JIO) is ludicrously cheap right now: I just today got a 1GB/day 28-day plan for ~$5. But, of course, all of this depends on income as well. The Kenyan data tends to be more expensive for everyday people because they buy it in rather smaller increments than 1GB (250MB or even 100MB at a time), which end up being more expensive per unit. Here's some data comparing monthly mobile phone costs across the world, with various kinds of normalization, for your perusal: http://blogs.worldbank.org/opendata/where-are-cheapest-and-most-expensive-countries-own-mobile-phone http://blogs.worldbank.org/opendata/where-are-cheapest-and-m...
NickBusey 9y ago
I don't think you can say anything about 'Africa' as a whole and have it be very true. I just came back from 2 weeks in Ghana and I was struck by the opposite, really great food at really nice places was very, very cheap.
- prepend 9y ago
  You can say some things about Africa. Electricity and connectivity are always more expensive. It's one of the most expensive data and infrastructure markets in the world. Of course, there is massive variability as Africa is huge and diverse. But the entire continent has more expensive power than say, Germany, or something. Also, stuff that is human powered (food, tailoring, etc.) are much cheaper. Again, lots of variability, but food in Ghana is going to be cheaper than food in say, Germany, or the US. Although you can certainly get expensive stuff in some areas (SA, TZ, etc.).

by ejanus 9y ago

ejanus 9y ago

Why voting me down? Please share your experience.

sdenton4 9y ago

deadbeef is, indeed, heavily subsidized in the US: those $1 McDonalds hamburgers are a bit of an anomaly. When I was living in Kisumu, I could get a decent meal that wouldn't kill me for a few dollars; I believe there were cheaper options for people with hardier stomachs. Meanwhile, US mobile data prices are some of the highest in the world. I spend ~$40 month in the US for 2GB of data (before getting capped to low speeds). The last time I was in Kenya, 1GB ran about $4-5, so about 1/5 the price of my US plan. India (post-JIO) is ludicrously cheap right now: I just today got a 1GB/day 28-day plan for ~$5. But, of course, all of this depends on income as well. The Kenyan data tends to be more expensive for everyday people because they buy it in rather smaller increments than 1GB (250MB or even 100MB at a time), which end up being more expensive per unit. Here's some data comparing monthly mobile phone costs across the world, with various kinds of normalization, for your perusal: http://blogs.worldbank.org/opendata/where-are-cheapest-and-most-expensive-countries-own-mobile-phone http://blogs.worldbank.org/opendata/where-are-cheapest-and-m...

NickBusey 9y ago

I don't think you can say anything about 'Africa' as a whole and have it be very true. I just came back from 2 weeks in Ghana and I was struck by the opposite, really great food at really nice places was very, very cheap.

prepend 9y ago
You can say some things about Africa. Electricity and connectivity are always more expensive. It's one of the most expensive data and infrastructure markets in the world. Of course, there is massive variability as Africa is huge and diverse. But the entire continent has more expensive power than say, Germany, or something. Also, stuff that is human powered (food, tailoring, etc.) are much cheaper. Again, lots of variability, but food in Ghana is going to be cheaper than food in say, Germany, or the US. Although you can certainly get expensive stuff in some areas (SA, TZ, etc.).