African Insights Blog

What does it cost to live in Uganda for a Westerner? It is a question I often hear or rather read when people write to me about cost of living here in Uganda. You can live on little or you spend a lot.  The question is “How do you want to live?” and “What can you afford?”

Ugandans themselves live from a dollar a day to the sky is the limit.  Most live in a rather frugal manner since there is the monthly rent, power and water if you live in Kampala or some other city such as Entebbe.

Westerners coming here usually want certain things in life like running water, inside toilets, electricity, internet and other comforts they think that they cannot do without.

My rent is $100 dollars a month; it is a two-room apartment with inside toilet, an African style flush one, a sink and a cold shower.  It is quite comfortable and I have been here for over a year.

There is an outside kitchen with no running water and you use jerry cans to have water for cooking, for washing the dishes, laundry and the like.  I have a small porch and can park my car inside which is a great plus here.  There is no guard at night and we simply close the gate and have had no problems besides some neighbors having their shoes stolen which they left on the porch.  (My car was broken into and window and door master controls were taken, but that can happen anywhere in the world.) 

Most people use charcoal stoves for cooking which runs about 15 cents a day to use.  I use a propane gas stove, the propane runs about 35 dollars, and it will last three months based on my needs.  I prefer gas over charcoal for environmental reasons and of course for ease of cooking.

Electricity in my case costs 25 dollars per month and water is around three dollars per month.

In Uganda one rarely has a washing machine since they are expensive here and are imported and the transport from Mombasa, Kenya and taxes add to the cost. 

The answer is a “house-girl” (not politically correct in the West), but which is the Ugandan term here for domestic help.  The cost is 22 dollars per month, plus transport per day of about 75 cents; you also have to have one or two meals a day for them. 

The house-girl in my case cleans the inside of the apartment, dusts, mops, laundry, ironing, does the dishes twice a day, buys my vegetables, fruit and soda and leaves at 5 to 6 pm six days a week, off on Sundays.

Food depends on your taste and preferences as to what you like.  You can buy Ugandan items such Matoke plantain bananas and cook them, posho which is a maize meal and looks from a distance like mashed potatoes, beans and local meat which runs a dollar a pound.  I spend around 200 dollars a month for food and that is not extravagant for a westerner but a lot more than most Ugandans make, but I am trying to answer the question that Westerners pose to me regarding living here in Uganda.

I like to cook and so I buy meat from a Ugandan butcher at Rosa Brothers in Kansanga where I find some western style cuts.  Fillet of beef costs me about 2.50 per pound.  Pork is a bit less and chicken a lot more.  A chicken here runs about 5 dollars for a whole one, while I buy cuts of chicken.

The butcher makes great German style sausage and wieners that are some of the best in world and cost about 2.50 US dollars a package. They neatly package everything and seas it with an imported machine.  They also make bread and buns that are some of my favorite anywhere and run 1.25 USD each again using imported equipment from Denmark.  I have been in back of the Bakery-Butchery and the place is spotless.

My vegetables I buy at produce outlets since the vegetables around my house sold in local stalls are seemingly of lower quality.  So off I go to the Italian store where I can find even Broccoli, Cauliflower, spring onions, zucchini, fresh peas and beans, small potatoes and of course pasta.  After trying some of the pasta from Pakistan, Iran and Egypt, I am back to Italian.  The Italian store also carries Prosciutto one of my favorite treats once a month and real Salami, another treat here.

Rice, Uganda has great local rice such as Super or Tilda Brand which I use, since imported rice can be 2 dollars per pound and more. When you buy food, stay away from processed and imported ones since that will add in cost.  Local cheese is ok, but expensive by local standards.  If you have this thing about Ramen Noodles they run 50 to 60 cents each here, compared to 10 each in the US. 

When you come here as a Westerner you have to choose how you will want to live and the cost of living can greatly vary since most westerners will want a security guard at night and even during the day.  He is called an Askari here and will run you between 60 and 80 dollars per month for  a daily 12 hour shift.  I don't use one and have been ok in my present apartment except the recent car break-in.

The rent of a house here can vary from what I pay of 100 USD or less (for a time I was spending 40 dollars a month) to some paying 1500 to 2000 USD per month for a very nice Villa like home.

I have read on an Ex-Pat site that the average monthly expenditure for a couple would be 4400 USD per month…high by my standards and that would certainly be living in style and in a upper crust area such as Muyenga.

Furniture for the house, you can buy local or imported from places like China, Korea, India and Malaysia.  Local things are a bit rougher in the construction, but functional.  I have a sofa and two chairs for which I paid $130 dollars total, a table and two chairs for 65 dollars.  Bed with mattress around 80 USD and so on.

TV’s run for a 21 inch around 180 USD, many stations are available and they air CNN, Aljazeera, BBC News, South American dubbed soap operas, Nigerian movies, and an endless stream of American preachers, I enjoy watching the Ugandan preachers, much more exciting.

A DVD player runs around 50 USD and you can rent pirated movies, you cannot find any legal ones for 50 cents each.  In many cases they will have one complete TV season on one DVD, or 6 or more movies. One store in Kampala will sell complete seasons 1.30 USD such as CSI, Desperate Housewives…all pirated.  You can buy a whole season of a TV drama or comedy for 1 USD, compressed to fit on one DVD.

Electricity runs me 25 USD a month and water 3 USD.  My biggest expense besides rent is the Internet using my GPRS phone as the modem to get on line at a cost of 45 USD a month.

You can live here on a lot less than in the West, but if you want to live as the shakers and movers of Uganda, it will cost you a lot more. If you buy Ugandan things it will be lower, if you want processed foods from the West, you pay a lot more.  If you want high quality pots and pans, knives, you pay a lot more.  It means more expenses; you can always buy a set of aluminum pots without handles, no lids unless you buy some plain lids without handles.

Complaints-None:  living is a is a matter of choice and choosing level of comfort that one likes.  As an expat (who does not work for a foreign company or NGO) I have chosen to live in a typical Ugandan neighborhood and it has worked fine with a few minor blips that add to the excitement. Others live in lovely neighborhoods paying 10 times more.  Life-style choices and what one is comfortable with and what one can afford.

If you choose to live away from Kampala, you can get a very nice place at a fraction of the price you pay in Kampala but then I like living in Kampala.

Life in Africa can be very inexpensive or cost a lot, the choice is yours….from Kampala…jon