NavoyNostos

Dakar vs Douala

for digital nomads

Under balanced weights Dakar edges it, 36 to 29, winning 6 of the 9 factors. Dakar is stronger on climate, safety, visa ease; Douala on air quality. Change the weights in the ranker to see which one wins for you.

Safety: 6.1 of 36 points (scores 49/100)Healthcare: 5.5 of 36 points (scores 44/100)Internet: 4.3 of 36 points (scores 35/100)Visa ease: 5.8 of 36 points (scores 46/100)Getting there & around: 5.5 of 36 points (scores 44/100)Climate: 6.3 of 36 points (scores 50/100)Air quality: 0.0 of 36 points (scores 0/100)Quality of life: 2.1 of 36 points (scores 17/100)36
Dakar
out of 100

West Africa's cultural capital on the Atlantic

Full Dakar profile →Where to stay in Dakar →
Safety: 3.9 of 28 points (scores 31/100)Healthcare: 4.4 of 28 points (scores 35/100)Internet: 3.2 of 28 points (scores 25/100)Visa ease: 4.0 of 28 points (scores 32/100)Getting there & around: 5.0 of 28 points (scores 40/100)Climate: 3.1 of 28 points (scores 25/100)Air quality: 2.5 of 28 points (scores 20/100)Quality of life: 2.4 of 28 points (scores 19/100)29
Douala
out of 100

Cameroon's humid port city and commercial capital, loud, lively and hard to walk

Full Douala profile →Where to stay in Douala →

Factor scores (0–100, balanced weights)

MetricDakarDouala
Cost of livingno datano data
Safety49 ✓31
Healthcare44 ✓35
Internet35 ✓25
Visa ease46 ✓32
Getting there & around44 ✓40
Climate50 ✓25
Air quality020 ✓
Quality of life1719 ✓

Cost

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

Safety and health (country-level)

MetricDakarDouala
Homicides per 100k7.96.76 ✓
Political stability (0–100)62.7 ✓36
UHC service coverage (0–100)4848
Life expectancy67.8 yrs ✓61.8 yrs

Internet (M-Lab measured medians)

MetricDakarDouala
Download5.5 Mbps ✓3.7 Mbps
Upload2.8 Mbps ✓1.2 Mbps

Visa

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

Getting there and around

MetricDakarDouala
Non-stop airport destinations31 ✓21
Walkability (1–5, editorial)22
Transit (1–5, editorial)22

Climate and air

MetricDakarDouala
Comfortable months per year6 ✓3
Annual mean PM2.553.1 µg/m³41.1 µg/m³ ✓

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

Frequently asked

Which is cheaper, Dakar or Douala?
We lack a monthly cost figure for one of the two cities.
Is Dakar or Douala safer?
Dakar scores higher on safety (49 vs 31), based on national homicide rates and World Bank political-stability scores.
Where is the internet faster, Dakar or Douala?
Dakar: a measured median of 5.5 Mbps versus 3.7 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; Victims of intentional homicide per 100,000 population (national data, latest year); 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); WHO Ambient Air Quality Database, June 2026 update (V8); 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.