Expatriate housing in Abidjan: how to define a budget that reflects local market realities?

Rent should not be compared based on currency conversion alone

For a company or an employee coming from abroad, it may be tempting to convert a rent in CFA francs into euros or US dollars in order to determine whether it is “expensive or not”.

But this comparison can be misleading… An apartment offered at 1,500,000 FCFA per month may seem particularly expensive once converted. However, this amount should primarily be assessed in relation to the Ivorian real estate market and the services and amenities provided. The relocation budget should therefore be determined according to the local market in which the employee will be living.

Every real estate market has its own realities

There is no universal rental price scale. In Abidjan, as in all major cities, rental prices depend on many factors:

The desired level of standing should therefore be defined before setting the budget.

When the budget and expectations do not match

There may be situations where the housing budget defined by the company does not allow for finding a property that meets both the employee’s expectations and the criteria set by the company.

In this case, several options may be considered:

The right approach: define the needs before setting the budget

For a company, it is more relevant to start by establishing clear housing requirements. Location, level of standing, floor area, security, amenities, proximity to schools or the workplace — once these factors have been defined, it becomes much easier to estimate the necessary budget by assessing the local real estate market and identifying properties that genuinely match the requirements.

As the market is constantly evolving, it is important for companies to regularly reassess their criteria and budgets to ensure that their requirements remain aligned with current market realities.

MD IMMOBILIER: bridging expectations and the local market

At MD IMMOBILIER, we assist companies and expatriate employees in their search for accommodation in Abidjan. We encourage companies to contact us in advance so that we can best prepare for their employees’ arrival and anticipate their housing search. Our knowledge of the market allows us to put the employee’s expectations into perspective with local market realities. Our role is also to advise our clients when certain criteria or budgets are not aligned with the market, helping them find the best compromises without losing sight of the level of comfort they are looking for.