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Kampala is best EAC city

The ever improving infrastructure in Kampala has contributed to its best ranking in the region. FILE PHOTO

Quality of Living research place it ahead of Nairobi

Kampala, Uganda | The Independent | Uganda’s capital Kampala has once again been ranked the best East African city to live in. It is the third time Kampala wins this accolade in as many years. The ranking is done based on several measures of quality of living in the world’s top 230 cities by Mercer, a global development consulting agency based in New York, USA.

This is the 20th year that Mercer is carrying out the report which is based on a `quality of living survey’.

Many multinational companies use the Mercer report to assess the quality of living in places where they either have a presence or are planning to venture. It is used to calculate aspects of pay and remuneration; especially on factors such as hardship allowances. Interested cities also may use the report as a guide to improve the quality of living of residents. Mercer also offers consultation services to city managers.

According to the report, Kampala was ranked as a more comfortable place to live than Nairobi, Kigali, and Dar es Salaam in the Eact African region. Elsewhere on the continent, it was way ahead in the quality of living survey than the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, the Nigeria capital Abuja and the city of Lagos.

The best city to live is the Mauritian capital Port Louis. It is closely followed the South African cities of Durban and Cape Town, the Tunis; the capital of Tunisia, and Rabat the capital of Morocco. Durban is a new entry as Cape Town has been rated closer to another South African city Johannesburg.

The Zambian capital Lusaka is the best city to live in sub-Saharan Africa and outside of South Africa.

Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic was ranked the second most unsafe city in the world after Damascus in Syria. In Africa, Port Louis is also the safest city. The South African cities of Durban, Cape Town, and Johannesburg may rank highly for overall quality of living but they rank low for personal safety. Issues around water scarcity contributed to Cape Town falling one place this year.

The Gambian city Banjul benefited from the countries perceived progress toward a democratic political system and improved international relations and human rights to become the most improved quality of living city in Africa, but also in the world, rising six places this year.

Globally, the best city to live in is the Austrian capital Vienna, followed by Zurich in Switzerland, Vancouver in Canada, Munich in Germany, and Auckland in New Zealand. Those hold the top five slots on Mercer’s ranking.

Mercer’s authoritative survey is one of the most comprehensive of its type in the world and is conducted annually to enable multinational companies and other organisations to compensate employees fairly when placing them on international assignments. In addition to valuable data on relative quality of living, Mercer’s survey provides assessment for more than 450 cities throughout the world.

“Companies looking to expand overseas have a host of considerations when identifying where best to locate staff and new offices,” said Ilya Bonic, Senior Partner and President of Mercer’s Career business, “The key is relevant, reliable data and standardised measurement, which are essential for employers to make critical decisions, from deciding where to establish offices to determining how to distribute, house and remunerate their global workforces.”

Mercer evaluates local living conditions in more than 450 cities surveyed worldwide. Living conditions are analysed according to 39 factors, grouped in 10 categories. This include political and social environment (political stability, crime, law enforcement, etc., the economic environment (currency exchange regulations, banking services), and socio-cultural environment (media availability and censorship, limitations on personal freedom).

Others include medical and health considerations (medical supplies and services, infectious diseases, sewage, waste disposal, air pollution), schools and education (standards and availability of international schools), and Public services and transportation (electricity, water, public transportation, traffic congestion, etc.).

There is also the factor of recreation (restaurants, theatres, cinemas, sports and leisure), consumer goods (availability of food/daily consumption items, cars), housing (rental housing, household appliances, furniture, maintenance services), and natural environment (climate, record of natural disasters).

The scores attributed to each factor, which are weighted to reflect their importance to expatriates, permit objective city-to-city comparisons. The result is a Quality of Living index that compares relative differences between any two locations evaluated.

The data was analysed between September and November 2018. But it is also updated regularly to account for changing circumstances. In particular, the assessment is revised to reflect significant political, economic, and environmental developments.

In the past, Kampala has been rated highly by residents for personal safety, friendliness, great weather, entertainment, and food, and political freedom. Kampalans are known to be bold, confident, and friendly.

Many visitors say Kampala’s rolling hills give it many spectacular views. The sunsets create beautiful cityscapes.

Mercer is a New York-based human resource consultancy firm. In 2018, it ranked Kampala as the best city to live in East Africa.

In a previous report published on March 20, 2018, Mercer ranked Kampala at position 172, 14 places ahead of Nairobi (186) while Kigali was ranked the third best city to live in, in East Africa, with a global position of 190. Dar es Salaam, Tanzania’s commercial city is ranked 199 out of 230 cities in the world. In the 2016 survey, Mercer ranked Kampala at 169, Nairobi 184, Kigali 191 and Dar es Salaam at 198.

Interestingly, it is not only Mercer that finds Kampala attractive for expatriates to live in. The 2017 Ease of Settling in Index report by `Expat Insider’, a Munich-based human resource consultancy firm, ranked Uganda the eighth best country in the world for expatriates to settle in.

The survey carried out in 65 countries asked participants to rate up to 43 different factors on life abroad with emphasis on personal satisfaction; both emotional (making friends abroad) and factual (personal safety).

Foreigners in Kampala feel free to comment on the political, social, and economic goings on without any fear of reprisal.

But rating Kampala highly has in the past been queried by residents. Many complain about the unregulated nature of the city, with any building and business popping up anywhere, any time. Many residents are concerned about noise pollution from pubs, nightclub or places of worship.

Amanda Ngabirano, a lecturer of urban planning at the Department of Architecture and Physical Planning in Makerere University has previously complained about the lack of organised public transport and city flooding.

“The unpredictability and inefficiency pile extra costs on city residents,” she said.

These factors are evaluated in Mercer’s Quality of Living Reports, which offer city-to-city comparisons for nearly 500 global assignment destinations.

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One comment

  1. Saddened Ugandan

    UGANDA OYEEE!! 😀

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