NavoyNostos

Douala vs Ibadan

for digital nomads

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

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 →
Cost of living: 6.4 of 36 points (scores 57/100)Safety: 2.2 of 36 points (scores 20/100)Healthcare: 4.1 of 36 points (scores 37/100)Internet: 4.1 of 36 points (scores 37/100)Visa ease: 3.6 of 36 points (scores 32/100)Getting there & around: 4.9 of 36 points (scores 44/100)Climate: 4.6 of 36 points (scores 42/100)Air quality: 2.6 of 36 points (scores 24/100)Quality of life: 3.8 of 36 points (scores 35/100)36
Ibadan
out of 100

Nigeria's sprawling university city, cheaper and slower than Lagos, with a train between the two

Full Ibadan profile →Where to stay in Ibadan →

Factor scores (0–100, balanced weights)

MetricDoualaIbadan
Cost of livingno data57
Safety31 ✓20
Healthcare3537 ✓
Internet2537 ✓
Visa ease3232
Getting there & around4044 ✓
Climate2542 ✓
Air quality2024 ✓
Quality of life1935 ✓

Cost

MetricDoualaIbadan
Monthly cost, one personcountry-level estimate for at least one cityno data$1,076
Central one-bedroom rentno datano data

Safety and health (country-level)

MetricDoualaIbadan
Homicides per 100k6.76 ✓15.75
Political stability (0–100)36 ✓35.1
UHC service coverage (0–100)48 ✓47
Life expectancy61.8 yrs63.4 yrs ✓

Internet (M-Lab measured medians)

MetricDoualaIbadan
Download3.7 Mbps6.7 Mbps ✓
Upload1.2 Mbps2.5 Mbps ✓

Visa

MetricDoualaIbadan
Nomad visanone listednone listed
Minimum income for the visano datano data
Entry, US passporte-visa requirede-visa required
Entry, EU passporte-visa requirede-visa required
Entry, UK passporte-visa requirede-visa required

Getting there and around

MetricDoualaIbadan
Non-stop airport destinations2150 ✓
Walkability (1–5, editorial)22
Transit (1–5, editorial)2 ✓1

Climate and air

MetricDoualaIbadan
Comfortable months per year35 ✓
Annual mean PM2.541.1 µg/m³39.3 µg/m³ ✓

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

Frequently asked

Which is cheaper, Douala or Ibadan?
We lack a monthly cost figure for one of the two cities.
Is Douala or Ibadan safer?
Douala scores higher on safety (31 vs 20), based on national homicide rates and World Bank political-stability scores.
Where is the internet faster, Douala or Ibadan?
Ibadan: a measured median of 6.7 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); 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); 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); WhereNext city cost estimates 2026 (city pages); OpenStreetMap restaurants (Overpass API); Starlink availability map. Dataset 2026.10.7. See each city page for per-metric footnotes and the methodology.