NavoyNostos

Banjul vs Cotonou

for digital nomads

Under balanced weights Banjul edges it, 38 to 33, winning 5 of the 9 factors. Banjul is stronger on climate, visa ease; Cotonou on internet. Change the weights in the ranker to see which one wins for you.

Safety: 6.4 of 38 points (scores 52/100)Healthcare: 5.2 of 38 points (scores 42/100)Internet: 2.0 of 38 points (scores 16/100)Visa ease: 5.3 of 38 points (scores 42/100)Getting there & around: 4.5 of 38 points (scores 36/100)Climate: 8.3 of 38 points (scores 67/100)Air quality: 4.9 of 38 points (scores 39/100)Quality of life: 0.9 of 38 points (scores 8/100)38
Banjul
out of 100

Tiny island capital of The Gambia; the beaches and winter-sun scene are 15 km away in Serrekunda

Full Banjul profile →Plan a trip with Navoy →
Safety: 6.2 of 33 points (scores 50/100)Healthcare: 4.0 of 33 points (scores 32/100)Internet: 3.8 of 33 points (scores 30/100)Visa ease: 4.0 of 33 points (scores 32/100)Getting there & around: 3.8 of 33 points (scores 30/100)Climate: 5.2 of 33 points (scores 42/100)Air quality: 5.0 of 33 points (scores 40/100)Quality of life: 1.1 of 33 points (scores 9/100)33
Cotonou
out of 100

Benin's economic capital and motorbike city, between a lagoon, the ocean and Ganvié's stilt village

Full Cotonou profile →Where to stay in Cotonou →

Factor scores (0–100, balanced weights)

MetricBanjulCotonou
Cost of livingno datano data
Safety52 ✓50
Healthcare42 ✓32
Internet1630 ✓
Visa ease42 ✓32
Getting there & around36 ✓30
Climate67 ✓42
Air quality3940 ✓
Quality of life89 ✓

Cost

MetricBanjulCotonou
Monthly cost, one personcountry-level estimate for at least one cityno datano data
Central one-bedroom rentno datano data

Safety and health (country-level)

MetricBanjulCotonou
Homicides per 100k7.95.8 ✓
Political stability (0–100)66.2 ✓58.6
UHC service coverage (0–100)53 ✓38
Life expectancy64.2 yrs ✓64 yrs

Internet (M-Lab measured medians)

MetricBanjulCotonou
Download1.8 Mbps4.6 Mbps ✓
Upload1.7 Mbps1.9 Mbps ✓

Visa

MetricBanjulCotonou
Nomad visanone listednone listed
Minimum income for the visano datano data
Entry, US passportvisa on arrival ✓e-visa required
Entry, EU passport90 days ✓e-visa required
Entry, UK passport90 days ✓e-visa required

Getting there and around

MetricBanjulCotonou
Non-stop airport destinations14 ✓13
Walkability (1–5, editorial)3 ✓2
Transit (1–5, editorial)11

Climate and air

MetricBanjulCotonou
Comfortable months per year8 ✓5
Annual mean PM2.532.5 µg/m³31.9 µg/m³ ✓

✓ marks the better value in each row; ties and missing data are left unmarked.

Frequently asked

Which is cheaper, Banjul or Cotonou?
We lack a monthly cost figure for one of the two cities.
Is Banjul or Cotonou safer?
Banjul scores higher on safety (52 vs 50), based on national homicide rates and World Bank political-stability scores.
Where is the internet faster, Banjul or Cotonou?
Cotonou: a measured median of 4.6 Mbps versus 1.8 Mbps (M-Lab, 2024).

More comparisons

Sources: Cost of Living Global 2026 (city rows); 2026 Cost of Living Index (country level); Digital Nomad Visas 2026; Worldwide Governance Indicators — Political Stability and Absence of Violence (score 0–100); Estimates of rates of homicides per 100 000 population; UHC service coverage index; Life expectancy at birth (years), both sexes; M-Lab NDT statistics (city aggregates, 2024); Airport destinations (Wikipedia airline and destination tables); NASA POWER climatology (2001–2020 monthly means); SatPM2.5 satellite-derived annual PM2.5 (V6.GL.02.04); Human Development Index (HDR 2025, HDI 2023); EF English Proficiency Index 2024 (band); Walkability and transit ratings (editorial); Passport Index dataset (visa requirements, 199 passports × 199 destinations); OpenStreetMap restaurants (Overpass API); Starlink availability map. Dataset 2026.10.7. See each city page for per-metric footnotes and the methodology.