Moving to Gaborone

In our series of short blogs on moving between different international locations, we highlight cost of living and other major differences likely to be experienced.

Today we look at moving to Gaborone in Botswana from Manama in Bahrain.
In Manama people speak Arabic. In Gaborone people speak English (official) and Setswana.
Manama is the capital and largest city of Bahrain.
Gaborone, is the capital and largest city of Botswana.
Manama is the focal point of the Bahraini economy. Several multinationals have facilities and offices in and around Manama. The economic base for Manama itself is financial services, with over two hundred financial institutions and banks based in the CBD and the Diplomatic Area.
Gaborone is the center of the national economy. The Southern African Development Community (SADC) has its headquarters in Gaborone.

The overall cost of living rank in Manama is 109 out of 300 global locations, which equates it with middle cost of living locations. An expatriate moving from Manama to Gaborone which has an overall cost of living rank of 210, which equates it with low cost of living locations, will experience a change in cost of living of -16.4%.
In terms of the hardship people are likely to experience, assessed in global terms, Gaborone is ranked as a some hardship location with a hardship index of 20% compared to Manama with a hardship index of 30% which is a high degree of hardship location.

Source: http://www.xpatulator.com as at July 2011.