Life in Point Noire

Greetings,

I've been offered a post with a well known oil company in PN and I just wanted to get a feeling for life in general in that part of the world.

I'm a lifelong expat having lived in the Middle East and Nigeria for many years but it's always nice to get some feedback from people on the ground ahead of arrival. Any advice on the following topics would be useful:-

Airport arrival advice.
Local currency and exchange rates plus best locations to make currency exchange.
Best locations to do grocery shopping and any food scarcity.
Local expat groups and societies.
Restaurant recommendations and avoids!
Local public holidays. (I assume that they are similar to Nigeria)
Any security advice in terms of areas not to go to.
Any other relevant advice.

Thanks in advance.

TAM

Hi Tam and welcome to Expat.com!

Hope that other members will advised you soon.;)

See you around,
Harmonie.

Hi Ash,

I have lived in PNR for 3 years and returned back to SA greatfully.
pnr is very poor country hot and very humid;-
road infrastructure very poor, only one main gudron
electricity poor mostly on generators.
dirt everywhere
medical centres mainly private but very expensive
local hospitals not an option due to poor state
shops are a few 3 in la ville (city centre)- very expensive and not always well stocked
Casino possibly the best
Local markets are much much cheaper but very poor quality, they produce nothing locally except fish,chinese products everywhere.
beaches nice but no swimming allowed and very dirty.
a few places are good to visit provided you are on 4x4 and quad/scramblers
hotels expensive and also only a few, migitel and they all situated very close to each other.
local taxis very cheap(30 cfa) and negotiable, public transport eg songsong maybe 1 canqcen (cfa is their local currency)
seasons hot and if it rains it realy rains maybe a week or more very easy..with waters everywhere.
Fish is the cheapest commodity in PNR.
Technology very poor with only one IT shop in la ville.
local electronic/cellfon shops on the road/market can fix anything and everything so dont despair.
Ladies of the night are very very cheap...night entertainment is more that enough and starts mainly midnight.
Restaurants is also sufficient but very expensive mainly in la ville:
indian restaurante
chicken : KAFFC
Icecream parlour in central la ville.

Best wishes for your new move:
should you need any more info
im on [email protected]

Hi,
  i got a job at pointe noire. i want to know the cost and brand of lap tops and mobiles at that area.
  can any one to advice me regarding this.

Really its prefarable to buy your mobiles and laptop in europe before coming all very expensive.

Hello sandeve-expat,

For info this thread is dated 2013 and has remain inactive.

Thank you,
Marjorie