Moving to Asmara

Today we look at moving to Asmara in Eritrea from Havana in Cuba. We highlight cost of living and other major differences likely to be experienced in our series of short blogs on moving between different international locations.
In Asmara people speak Tigrinya, Tigre, Arabic and English. In Havana people speak Spanish.

Asmara is the capital city and largest settlement in Eritrea. Havana is the capital city, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba.
Textiles and clothing, processed meat, beer, shoes, and ceramics are the major industrial products of Asmara. Havana's economy first developed on the basis of its location, which made it one of the early great trade centres in the New World. Sugar and a flourishing slave trade first brought riches to the city, and later, after independence, it became a renowned resort. Despite efforts by Fidel Castro's government to spread Cuba's industrial activity to all parts of the island, Havana remains the centre of much of the nation's industry.

The overall cost of living rank in Asmara is 252 out of 300 global locations, which equates it with low cost of living locations.  An expatriate moving from Havana to Asmara will experience a change in cost of living of -14.6%.
In terms of the hardship people are likely to experience, assessed in global terms, Asmara is ranked as an extreme hardship location with a hardship index of 40% the same as Havana.

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