Moving to Ouagadougou

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 Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso from Cotonou in Benin. In Cotonou people speak French (official) Fon, Ge, Bariba, Yoruba and Dendi. In Ouagadougou people speak French, indigenous languages.

Cotonou is the economic capital of Benin, as well as its largest city. Ouagadougou is the capital of Burkina Faso and the administrative, communications, cultural and economic center of the nation. It is also the country's largest city.
Cotonou is Benin's largest city and houses many of its government and diplomatic services. The city is a major port, and is also home to an airport and a railway that links to Parakou.
Ouagadougou's primary industries are food processing and textiles.

The overall cost of living rank in Cotonou is 169 out of 300 global locations, which equates it with middle cost of living locations. An expatriate moving from Cotonou to Ouagadougou which has an overall cost of living rank of 136, which equates it with middle cost of living locations, will experience a change in cost of living of 4.9%.
In terms of the hardship people are likely to experience, assessed in global terms, Ouagadougou is ranked as an extreme hardship location with a hardship index of 40% compared to Cotonou with a hardship index of 40% which is an extreme hardship location.

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