There’s a tune by Midival Punditz, Bhranga Fever, which always reminds me of Lagos, a city of both grids and swerves. It’s loud, fast, uplifting but tiring, contradictory, polarised and expensive! Expensive in Lagos is scary, especially when you consider that the majority of people exist on less than $2 a day and yet it is more expensive than LA, Stockholm or Barcelona.

Evidence of vast amounts of money floating around the “islands” - two small pieces of land poking into the Atlantic that anchor the city’s economic activity and are home to banks, foreign consulates and oil and telecommunications companies - is everywhere. Dinner for two at an average restaurant costs more than $200. A cocktail costs more than $15. A box of cereal costs $12 at a supermarket. Hotel rooms under $400 are difficult to find.

In the aisles of glistening new malls, expatriates and wealthy Nigerians browse for - and often buy - $10,000 watches and $5,000 cellphones. New BMWs, Mercedes-Benzes and Bentleys plod along through grinding traffic, bumping over rocks and weaving around potholes. Continue………..

Nigeria
Lagos