Cost of living in Rwanda – 2015

Kigali Feb 2015 in USD:

Accommodation: varies widely and you get what you pay for... Rwandans themselves either inherit their family home or pay rent for a room or house. According to Rwandans I know who pay rent, a room can be rented as cheap as $20/mo or a small two-bedroom home with kitchen for $75.  Most foreigners can expect to pay between $250 to $500 for a room all inclusive (sans tv and internet)... the lower prices are usually garbage places to live, but that's just my opinion.  Over the course of a year I rented rooms in five different locations, paying $400/mo for four and $300 for one... only two out of the five were places that were good to live long-term and they cost $400 (and now more).  Renting a house varies depending on location, condition, and size from $400 to $3000 (or more).  Houses for $400-$600 are usually unfurnished and garbage in not good areas with nicer small homes beginning at $1000 and bigger ones $1500 furnished.  Some people who have lived in Kigali awhile have lucked out and got reasonably OK places for under $800 unfurnished.  If you are staying short term, rent a room or furnished house if you are a family.

Public transportation fares: Buses large and small anywhere in Kigali cost $0.25-$0.35.  Motos (motorcycles) can be hired for $0.40-$1.40.  Taxi cab cars range $4-$10.  Renting a car is very expensive ($100/day or more) as is gas.

Food: varies widely... let's start with restaurants... slummy ones can feed you rice, beans, and bananas (matoki) for around $0.50 or a bunch of delicious boiled, grilled, or fried potatos for the same.  Decent local restaurants or buffets range from $2-3 and up.  Restaurants catering to foreign tastes start at $5 for a sandwich / burger to $15 a meal without drinks.  Soda, beer, tea, and coffee in restaurants cost $1-$4.  In Kigali you can find bagels, burritos, salads, cake (mostly very bad), bibimbap, fondu, doro wat, pizza, sushi, putine, grilled tilapia, and more.  Foreign items are very expensive.  Shopping in the market or small shops and cooking at home is cheapest... prices vary.  You can eat for as little as $50-$75 per month cooking at home. Below are some example prices, to the best of my recollection:

Apple (1 very small, imported, pomme) = $0.40
Avocado (1 medium, avoka) = $0.30
Banana (1 medium yellow, imineke) $0.10
Beans (dried or fresh 1 kilo, ibishimbo) $1-$1.50
Beef (inyama) = varies but not cheap
Bread (umugati) = $0.14 for a roll or $0.85 - $1.50 a package / loaf
Butter (amavuta) = local cow ghee $1.50-$2; cream butter sticks (1 package, imported) $3
Cabbage (1 medium/large, amashu) $0.75
Carrots (ikaroti, 1 small bucket, 6-8 medium) = $0.75
Cassava leaf (1 bunch, dodo) = $0.20
Cereal = Tin of Irish oatmeal $2.85; Muesli small box $7; Cornflakes big box $9
Chapati = $0.15
Cheese (gouda large round, fromage) = $5
Chicken (inhoko) = not sure but expensive, more than beef... can buy live (cheaper) or from butcher
Chips / crisps = local small $1; can of Pringles $3
Chocolate bar = low quality $0.85; real chocolate, imported $6-$8.50
Cilantro (small bunch) = $0.85
Coffee (fresh ground, bag, ikawa) = $5-$8
Donut (1 local stale low sugar... rock good for breaking windows, andazi) = $0.15
Eggs (1 fresh or hardboiled, amadi) = $0.15
Garlic (4-5 bulb package, tungurusumu) = $1
Lemon / citron = local (green outside) $0.45; imported (yellow outside) $0.90
Macadamia nuts (tiny 1 oz. package, imported) = $1
Mango = $0.90
Milk (amata) = 1 liter fresh (boil before drinking) $0.50, 1 liter carton (shelf stable) $1.25
Oil (amavuta) = 1 liter cheap vegetable $2-3; imported olive $7-11
Onion (1 medium, ibitunguru) = $0.20 
Orange (1 small/medium) = local (green outside) $0.45; imported (orange outside) $0.90
Papaya (large) = $0.90
Peanuts (1 kilo uncooked, must roast, ibinyobga) = $1.50
Mushrooms (1 small bunch oyster) = $1
Pineapple (1 medium, ananasi) = $0.70
Potatoes (1 kilo Irish, ibiraye) = $0.25
Prunes (500 gram bag, imported) = $7.50
Radish (daikon, white, small bunch 4-5) = $1.25
Rice = local (1 kilo, umucelli) $1; basmati (Pakistani, 5 kilo quality) $10
Rosemary (fresh bunch) = $2
Salt (1 kilo, umunyu) = $.90
Samosa (1 small with mystery meat but likely cow, sambusa) = $0.15
Spaghetti / pasta (500 g) = $0.85-2.50
Spinach (1 bunch) = $0.30
Stringbeans (a heap of them in a big bucket, imiteja) = $0.75
Soda (small glass bottle) = $0.45 plus refundable bottle deposit
Sugar (1 kilo, isucari) = $1
Tea (box Rwandan green or black) = $1.50
Tomatoes (1 kilo Roma, nyanya) = $3-4
Tomato sauce in a jar = $6-9
Tomato paste in a very small tin (Salsa brand) = $0.28
Water (1 liter bottle, amazi) = $.90
Yogurt = fresh (1 liter fresh delicious drinkable, ikivuguto) $1.25; small container (eat with spoon, flavors) $1.75

Other: Soap bar = $0.50-$1.50; maxi pads (package 10) $1.50; good shampoo (1 bottle) $9-11; q-tips = $1.50; toothpaste $3

Insurance: Get medical insurance before coming here, and if you have employees here such as a guard or housekeeper buy them and their immediate family Mutuelle de Sante (cost is 3,000 Rwf about $4 per person per year). Probably best to get a check up and teeth cleaning before coming here but there are decent doctors and dentists here at reasonable costs.

Education: Varies in cost.  If you want to attend university it can be around $1,500 per year or more. Private school for your children will likely be much more.

Utilities: Varies depending on usage.  Water is not expensive and can be well under $50 a month for a house/compound, gas for cooking is under $50 a tank and can last 1-3 months (charcoal cooking is about $3/month), and electricity might cost $100-$150/month for a house/compound.

Common bills:  Mobile phone use varies but can be less than $1 a day for very light calling.  Internet $40 a month for 1G per day... but you can use internet for as little as $0.30 per day or less for light usage. Companies are Tigo, Airtel, and MTN.  Television is as cheap as $50 for a cable box and antenna and $8-$30 a month for a subscription.  Companies are Star Times, Canal Plus, and GoTV.