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Stay Informed
Arriving at a new border is daunting enough without the uncertainty
of not knowing what exchange rate to expect. You will almost always need
some of the new country's currency to buy insurance, or pay immigration
or customs fees, and if you don't at least have an idea of what you
should get for your dollars or euros, you could easily be ripped off.
Again, we show a distinctly African bias - we suggest you take a complete sheet of African rates with you so you
can cope with last minute route changes, and if you fill it in before
you depart you should also update the rates a few days before you plan
to cross into the country concerned, if this is possible. Asking for
local advice will usually get you into an immediate business transaction
- advice on its own isn't easily available; this means that the internet
may be the easiest impartial source for current rates.
African Rate Sheet
For a complete
currency sheet for Africa visit
http://www.camelworld.com/resources_currency.htm
XE have a table with
popular currencies available, but if you want all Africa currency
rates you will have to manually look each one up using the
'Full' version of the
converter.
The table right lists each African country with the currency used.
Print this out or save it as it will allow you to note down the actual
exchange rates as you travel.
Currency Notes
The CFA comes in two forms - one for West and one for Central Africa.
Both have the same fixed rate to the Euro, which is the preferred
currency of exchange.
The Democratic Republic of Zaire uses the vastly inflated Franc, as
well as US$ for transactions - change is often but not always in Francs.
You can actually cash dollar travellers cheques at the Commercial Bank
in Kinshasa, and get dollars in return, with a very small commission.
The Namibian Dollar is pegged to the South African Rand at 1:1, and in
Namibia you can usually pay in Rand as well.
Visa fees are often charged in Dollars, Euros, or Pounds - it's worth
checking the price in each currency to see which works out as cheapest
for you.
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