The Global Phoenix - Issue 3 August 2017 | Page 23

Electricity - To have electricity,
however limited, is a luxury in some
areas of Africa, including Ghana.
For the expat, not only is electricity
expected and required 24/7, a high
kW allowance is needed to support
the lifestyle. Whereas locals in
Accra are very used to power being
down for a few hours, or even for
a few days at a time, many expats
are unaware that power outage
is frequent and that to meet their
expectations a generator is required,
and even a standby generator. Often
expats are ignorant of the fact that
when power returns, power surges
need to be absorbed by a power
regulator or delicate appliances
such as TVs and computers will be
damaged.
Water - To have piped water is
a luxury. In Nigeria, expatriate
properties must have their own
water borehole. In locations where
there are no wells with a suitable
water source, water tanks are
usually stored on towers made
of scaffolding in the gardens of
properties and water is delivered
on a regular basis or rainwater is
collected. Many locals are frugal
with water use, they often shower
standing in a large bowl which
collects all the water, which is then
recycled to flush the toilet, and even
then only occasionally (the local
adage ‘If it’s yellow let it mellow, if
it’s brown, flush it down’ is absolutely
inconceivable for expats).
2. The www Challenge
Lack of Online Presence
In many hards hip destinations there is still very
little available online and the only way to obtain
data is direct from the local supplier in person. Try
researching real estate websites in N’Djamena,
Chad or in Bangui, The Central African Republic!
Online Misrepresentation
Where there is online presence it is important to
consider various pitfalls:
Relevance - The researcher must ensure the
data published relates to expatriate and not
local housing market; much expatriate-suitable
property changes hands directly in hardship
destinations and never reaches online portals.
Current Content - Numerous websites are
wildly out of date, and properties that have
been rented out months previously are often
not removed from stock lists; some still have
prices from the boom years of 2009-2011.
An example is a ‘dead’ website for property
in The Congo that has advertised the same
properties for the past 9 years.
Transparency - Many real estate agencies use
stock images to advertise their properties,
misrepresenting the object. We have come
across the same photo on sites in countries
as diverse DR Congo , Ghana and Mali. Some
agencies, even in developed nations such as
Italy, advertise nonexistent properties to lure
potential clients into giving their details. Many
agencies will quote artificially inflated prices to
foreigners and corporate.
www.theglobalphoenix.org
Page 23