How expensive is Kigali?
How expensive is Kigali? The expensiveness of any city in East Africa varies from one reason to another and it is very hard to know and distinguish the most expensive city destination. Regarding its expensiveness, Kigali is considered to be one of the most expensive with the cost of living very high which can be justified by the high prices of food, water, and electricity bills. These make it hard for a normal visitor or resident to live to he or she wishes. Besides this, Kigali city offers the cheapest transport fares in the whole of the East African region. People can move freely from one place to another in the most affordable transport means.
The high prices of Kigali across the East African region is attributes to giving different currencies at the moment by each independent country and it is believed that once the single currency is established across the East African community countries then this will aid in leveling the prices and probably makes it cheaper for different visitors and another person to stay in the Kigali and any other city in the region
For the past few years, the prices of goods and other services worldwide hit up and even in Kigali, this led to increased prices of goods and services in the city leading to the high cost of living making it expensive. Depending on various market situations some economists argue that Kigali is expensive in some areas and as well as cheap or affordable in other relative areas.
There are food products and services that are cheap in Kigali and expensive as compared to other cities in the region such as Kampala Uganda, Dar es Salama Tanzania and Nairobi Kenya. For example, the piece is eggs in Kigali is lower compared to those in other countries and this same applies to the milk prices. However, the prices of bread in Kigali is high as compared to the prices of brad in other East African cities.
The variation of prices in different cities including Kigali is the result of levels of demand and supply prevailing especially in the free or open markets. The inflation rate also talks much about the levels of the expensiveness of a particular city within the region.
Most people regard Kigali as an expensive city because most of its products and services used are imported from other countries and this makes the city expensive as high levels of inflation come with costs of transportation and the associates.
In Kigali, the rent is cheap as compared to other cities such as Kampala and Nairobi. You find that a single room in Kampala that falls into apartments, its rent is thrice the rent paid by the same person staying in the same room in Rwanda. In Kigali city still, a three-bedroom apartment will cost about US$3,000 per month, but the price for a similar house on the outskirts will cost US$700 while in Nairobi for example a bedroom apartment is estimated at an average of US$363, whereas a three-bedroom apartment is about US$663 while in Bujumbura, a three-bedroom apartment in the city center will go for cost at around US$955. Despite its expensiveness, Kigali gives the value for money, and thus it might not necessarily be expensive
However, Kigali is good for all kinds of travelers whether on budget, midrange, camping, or luxury travelers. While in Kigali you can save money by taking on local transportation, decide to take walks, eating local foods, use of bicycles instead of motorbikes and many other options available.
