LUANDA, WHERE MONEY MEETS EXPENSE A boatload of Zimbabweans and Angolans enjoy one of the major attractions of Luanda, the ocean on the doorstep
A boatload of Zimbabweans and Angolans enjoy one of the major attractions of Luanda, the ocean on the doorstep

A boatload of Zimbabweans and Angolans enjoy one of the major attractions of Luanda, the ocean on the doorstep

Monica Cheru-Mpambawashe Recently in Luanda
An interesting debate concerning the fall of prices in the shops has had economists practically calling each other rather rude names.
One camp says this is deflation and a sign of a contracting economy bedevilled with money shortages which are forcing prices down and spells great doom and gloom ahead. So in other words, the lowering down of prices is a real bad thing and we should be anxiously waiting for them to creep up.
An opposing school of thought says this is simply a correction of prices which were way too high and set at artificial levels at the period of dollarisation. So the lower prices are just a natural reaction and we should think, celebrate the resultant affordability of all the cheap foreign goods even if they are killing our local industries.

But after a short spell in Luanda, I say deflation or correction, whatever brings the prices down, let it come.
For the second year running, Luanda the capital city of Angola has received the dubious honour of being the most expensive city in the world. According to Mercer’s 2014 Cost of Living Survey which covered 211 cities across five continents and measuring the comparative cost of over 200 items in each location, including housing, transportation, food, clothing, household goods, and entertainment for expatriates, Luanda is the place to go if you have dollars to burn.

But the study warns that along with N’Djamena the capital of Chad, Luanda is also a place of poverty and the inflated prices that drop the jaws of foreigners are not necessarily the cost of living for the locals. But even with that in mind, the prices remain high.

Home to an estimated plus 6 million people, Luanda is a sprawling megalopolis divided into north and south divisions that follow the coast for a distance of over 60 kilometres.

The government is currently involved in major efforts to de-congest the city. They have set up a satellite town in Kilamba which is so close to Luanda that it is just an extension, albeit an independent one.

The target is to have 600 000 housing units and 20 000 and most of the necessary amenities have already been built with over 70 percent of them occupied. There are also moves to develop the provinces to attract back the multitudes that fled during the civil strife that lasted almost three decades.

Accommodation
If you are a foreigner and would like to own your accommodation in Luanda, you had better have at least half a million in your pocket. This is supposed to be just a third of what the going price used to be several years back. If you are looking to rent, then you will need about US$300 for a room.

Many Zimbabweans and other foreigners who have followed the oil dollars and are busy hustling have devised a coping mechanism. They have evolved a time share method. One room is used by several people who contribute agreed shares towards the rentals and utility bills and occupy the space accordingly.

“I come here to sell shirts and jewellery and normally I only need a week to finish my stock. So it makes sense for me to share the room with others who come at different times.

“But with other women we can share at the same time which brings the prices down even further. I pay a quarter of the bill and get a week every month. Sometimes when I am not coming here I sublet my week to other people who then pay me for the period,” said a Zimbabwean woman who refused to be identified.

According to her the landlords are happy with the arrangement as it means they charge premium prices to extra terrestrials.
She says most foreigners are traders who lead very frugal lives during their stay in Luanda so as to get something out of the highly lucrative market. She went on to say that Luanda is a beautiful place with a very low crime rate as far as petty offences like pick pocketing are concerned.

Wheels
There is a law in Angola prohibiting the importation of vehicles that are more than three years old, a principle that our local car assemblers would surely love to have Zimbabwe adopt in light of the cheap imports being dumped in the country. But that prohibition has not stopped the clogging of the streets of Luanda where mostly Kias and Hyundais are the wheels of choice.

Congestion is an all day event in some areas of the city whose CBD seems to be flung across more than 20 kilometres of the 60 kilometres stretch which make up the town. To be on the safe side you need to give yourself an allowance of at least one and a half hours to traverse 20 kilometres through the worst patches. If the locals have their way and petrol prices is lowered from 60 cents a litre to 50 cents, then the situation will only get worse.

Food
This is the killer. Angola reportedly imports US$150 million worth of meat each month as well as most of the other stuff that will end up on the plate like rice and fresh produce. Unless you get it in a supermarket, expect to spend at least US$20 on a single unexciting meal, the local equivalent of a plate of sadza with meat and vegetables.

To be fair, they tend to serve all you can eat buffets but the prices are still way too high. The tourist traps will serve you a simple plate of fish, steak, chicken and accompaniments for a whooping US$50 without batting an eyelid.

A charge of US$30 for tea with no accompaniments is nothing to start at in Luanda, if you like to be seen in the right places.
“There when hosting three or four people at a good restaurant would have cost you around US$2 000,” the locals say.

Communication
If you are one of the millions of subscribers who have been bitterly vocal about the local networks, do not even think of relocating to Luanda.
A sim card costs between seven and nine US dollars depending on the network. As for the airtime and data packets five dollars is nothing. At the rate that most Zimbabweans talk and use the internet you would need at least US$100 to be able to send all those WhatsApp jokes and post your Zvinhu Zvirikufaya daily updates on Facebook.

Education
A robust public education system is mostly in place although institutions in some outlying areas are still under construction or on the planning board. School kids dress in their civvies and then put on a ubiquitous white dust-coat on top.

Entertainment
Like most other African cities, Luandans love to party and they do not stop till the sun comes up. Expect a tot of the most ordinary spirits to cost you US$15. But fortunately, the bartenders are not rigorous about the tot measurement which balances out the charge. Supermarket prices are also quite reasonable.

The people of Luanda also seem to like mid-week weddings with Thursdays apparently a popular day. So good is the reception that the bridal party only gets to the honeymoon hotel in the wee hours of Friday morning with the bride still in her wedding finery. Why rush to take off the most expensive outfit that you will ever wear?

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