Do you sometimes get the strange nostalgia feeling?
Every people do especially if you found your self living in number one most expensive city in the world 2011. Luanda Angola.
I`m actually refering to financial aspect and cost of living.
this city will definately take you down to memory lane, you might found your self craving missing something depending your area of interest, maybe you found yourself living here because of work,family or tourism!
okay fine but you need to be aware of this important fact about luanda coming from someone like me who has been here for a decade now.
Some people just tend to focus more on the past, but anyone can get caught up in it. The thing is, trying actively to stop thinking about something never really works! When you catch yourself going down memory lane, stop to acknowledge your thoughts on it try your best to be positive strive to survive where ever you are.
There are many other expensive cities like japan, moscow,singapore,switzerland,sydney,paris and many more.
but among all luanda rank no1. in 2011
Ang pic
It`s decimated, extreme and ridiculous.
A house can be $10,000 (£6,500) a month to rent, a basic meal out for two is easily $50, a hotel room can weigh in at $400 a night and a kilo of imported tomatoes a staggering $16.
A basic saloon car without a driver (which foreigners need to negotiate the difficult traffic and parking) will be $90 a day, but upgrade to a SUV (recommended due to the poor quality roads) and you're looking at $200
The post-war flood of expatriates into Luanda, many working in the booming construction and oil sectors, has Esteves believes, definitely inflated prices.
"I would say the fact you have oil and other big multinational companies looking for so much accommodation has pushed up the costs because they will tend to just pay what they are asked for," he said.
But while Fernando Azvedo agrees the multinationals may have increased houses prices, he says at the same time it should be remembered that it was Angolan landlords who have been cashing in on the opportunity.
He added that while expats did sometimes splash out on restaurant meals or high-cost imported items in the supermarkets, he felt wealthy Angolans were the really big spenders.
"I think it is expatriates who are the ones who worry more about the cost and look more for a reasonable price for something," he said.
So why is a city like Luanda so expensive?
There are several reasons. The main one is that Angola lived through a long civil war which started in 1975, when the country gained independence from Portugal, and continued right up until 2002.
Infrastructure is in poor shape after more than 20 years of civil war
During that time most industry, agriculture and local production stopped and basic infrastructure including roads, railways, electricity lines and water supplies were badly damaged.
Having once been a major exporter of products like coffee and cotton, and self-sufficient in most foods, Angola now imports an estimated 80% of its consumable goods.
For every tin or packet of food you buy in Luanda, you must factor in the cost involved in getting that product to Angola and onto the supermarket shelf, via a congested port with its highly bureaucratic customs and a traffic-clogged city.
There are some cynics who say Angola's business elite, who control the import companies, have also done little to bring down costs, although in recent years bringing down prices has been cited as a government priority.
Jose Severino, president of Angola's Industrial Association (AIA), says it is a vicious cycle: "You have unreliable electricity so you need a generator, poor transport networks and weak human capacity and that pushes up the cost of local production which means it is still cheaper to import goods instead of making them here.
"As long as this continues, and as long as local taxes are so high and red tape so complicated here there will be no incentive to produce locally and prices will not come down."
Jose Severino, who is also a government advisor, said there needed to be decentralisation away from Luanda, or at least a proper public transport network in order to reduce traffic congestion which he said cost people money, not just in time but also fatigue, productivity, and vehicle maintenance.
Continue reading the main story BBC NEWS
Back to nostalgia feeling,,it`s a bittersweet moment the feeling that could make your tearly or having mixed feeling of what your missing,like here I am in luanda missing my country naija,our language Pidgin eng,speaking portuguese can be boring sometimes, proper nigerian dishes cutural and traditional ceremonies and most importantly my close families/friends who are not here with m.
Niaja pics
I` don`t mean i dislike where i am at the moment or not happy sometimes you can`t ascape that strange feeling of nostalgia, really it`s inevitable.
It`s overwhelming how we react to nostalgia feelings,never allow it take better aspect of me, so my tips to you my lovely readers wherever you are, count yourself blessed cherish every moment and miletones of your life be positve., don`t forget to prepare fully well when visiting most expensive cities in the world like luanda and rest of them, the annoying thing is when you get less than you pay ,yes you might not even get what you bargain for really crazy.
typical survival of the fittest and grace of God.
Cheers.
