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Paying the price
For the last decade or so the annual list of the world’s most expensive cities often has the usual suspects, London, Hong Kong, perhaps New York, and then there’s usually at least one African city, recently it’s been Luanda, Angola or an unexpected city like N’Djamena, Chad.
These reports by international firms are often focused on expatriate corporate executives and the calculations probably include luxuries like personal drivers and security. Of course, this isn’t a reflection of the reality a vast majority of citizens face in fast-growing African cities. Trying to explain Lagos is an expensive city by comparing the price of a martini with the price of one in Manhattan might be a fun exercise—as some have done, but it provides little economic insight into how ordinary Lagosians live.
A team of World Bank economists dug into price levels in developing countries with a particular focus on sub Saharan Africa to get just that insight. They found goods and services consumed by urban households in African countries are “very expensive” relative to the much lower incomes than even other developing countries. The research, which analyzed price information collected for calculating official purchasing power parities, found price levels in African cities were 25% to 28% higher than in comparable countries.
We’ve written about the higher expense of living in African cities where the rate of population growth by far surpasses the development or availability of resources to serve the teeming numbers. It affects everything. The researchers highlight rent in African cities as being 55% more expensive than in comparable cities while food is 35% more expensive.
As the paper also notes, the high costs of living in African cities can constrain economic development because firms need to pay higher wages to compensate these high living costs. Again, it puts a dampener on the idea Africa’s fast-growing urban areas could be engines of growth for their countries, even as more people move to these cities. Instead what seems to be happening is urban economies in Africa can end up being less competitive and get stuck in low-development traps with goods and services that are difficult to trade and access.
There is an obvious link between the expensive expat executive life and ordinary African city dwellers, since the expats have to pay more to their auxiliary staff. But it’s clear those workers are paying a much higher price, in more ways than one.
— Yinka Adegoke, Quartz Africa editor
Stories from this week
The African immigrants who made history in the US mid-term polls. From Liberia to Somalia and Eritrea, a cadre of candidates whose families or themselves immigrated to the US were elected to office this week. Reporting from Minneapolis, Minnesota, Abdi Latif Dahir shows how the Somali community there carved a niche in the local political scene to achieve electoral success.
A team of African scientists are close to developing a malaria vaccine. Human red blood cells have been evolving over centuries to battle malaria, the down side is it’s led to other genetic mutations including Sickle Cell disease. But scientists are closer than we’ve ever been to developing a vaccine to combat a disease which infects nearly 200 million people a year in Africa. Team member and immunologist Faith Osier explains why they’re so hopeful.
Kenya’s biggest mobile money service is going global. Over the last few years, Kenya’s leading mobile network operator Safaricom has worked to widen M-Pesa’s reach nationally and regionally. In a new deal with Western Union, the mobile wallet will now be available in more than 200 countries.
Tanzania’s media crackdown manifests in the detention of top free press advocates. Since coming to power in 2015, president John Magufuli has closed newspapers, shut down online platforms, and introduced sweeping laws curtailing free expression. All that came to the fore this week with the arrest—and eventual release following a global uproar—of two senior staff members from the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Cameroon’s Anglophone crisis has turned into a full-scale propaganda war. The return of 78 kidnapped schoolchildren this week has led to an exchange of allegations between Cameroon’s government and Anglophone militant separatists claiming the other side was responsible, reports Amindeh Blaise Atabong from Yaoundé. Meanwhile, TV journalist Mimi Mefo Takombo has been detained indefinitely by the government for tweeting that an army bullet was responsible for killing an American pastor in the conflict-ridden northwest region.
Trialling science lessons with Nigerian school kids in their local language. A Nigerian PhD candidate in linguistics is trialling a program to teach third-year secondary school children (seventh graders) science lessons in their first language, Yoruba, rather than English, the country’s primary language of education, writes Yomi Kazeem. The pilot project is seen as a chance to fine-tune how translation can be improved to meet students’ classroom needs.
Table of the Week
US corporates are the biggest direct investors in Africa—not China’s. United States businesses and investors made more foreign direct investments (FDI) in Africa than counterparts from any other country last year—up by 43% to 130 projects in 2017, according to EY Global’s 2018 Africa Attractiveness report. China’s corporate investments fell by 18% to 54. South Africa remains Africa’s top recipient of FDI but Morocco has caught up to share joint top spot.
Other Things We Liked
Is Rwanda a development poster child with a dark side? Rwanda has undoubtedly made huge progress over the last 20 years in development economic terms but there are still doubts raised over its socio-political status, notes Gabriele Steinhauser ($) for the Wall Street Journal. The authoritarian rule of “disciplinarian” president Paul Kagame and questions over some of those economic growth numbers are some of the causes for concern.
The hope and heartache of Africa’s “Renaissance Generation.” A white mother, an African father, who met while the latter gained education overseas: those are the traits author Aminatta Forna shares with the likes of president Obama and philosopher Kwame Anthony Appiah. In the New York Review of Books, Forna delves into the ambitions and disappointments faced by the generation that came of age at the same time as their countries gained independence.
Closing the cash gap in Africa with crypto-currency. In emerging markets, the shallow reach of traditional money systems means there’s less resistance to new financial technology. For Bloomberg Businessweek, Dune Lawrence and Eric Ombok report from Nairobi on how alternative currency programs in some of the city’s slums are being updated via blockchain technology and digital currencies.
ICYMI
Training for African filmmakers. The documentary festival in Munich will offer emerging African filmmakers a fully-funded residency program accompanied by training in story development, financing, and pitching. (Nov. 18)
The Tutu fellowship for African leadership. The program allows young leaders to explore the issues and specific characteristics that make, define, and challenge an African leader. (Dec. 15)
The Yale Young African Scholars. The intensive academic program will be held in Kenya, Ghana, and Zimbabwe to engage high school students who wish to make a meaningful impact as young leaders on the continent. (Feb. 6)
Keep an eye on
Africa Early Stage Investor Summit (Nov. 11-12). Startups will showcase their businesses for investors in Cape Town with the aim of raising $250,000 to $5 million in series A capital. All companies provide a technology-intensive or innovation-based product or service that is currently available in one or more African markets.
African Union extraordinary sessions (Nov. 14-18). African presidents, prime ministers, and cabinet officers will congregate in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to discuss the state of the continental body.
DRC opposition to name joint candidate (Nov. 15). Seven opposition leaders from the Democratic Republic of Congo meeting in Geneva are set to agree on a single candidate ahead of the crucial Dec. 23 polls.
*This brief was produced while listening to Nongqongqo (To Those We Love) by Miriam Makeba (South Africa)
Our best wishes for a productive and thought-filled week ahead. Please send any news, comments, suggestions, malaria vaccines and support for press freedom to africa@qz.com. You can follow us on Twitter at @qzafrica for updates throughout the day.
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