Kenya emerged as the best country in Africa according to the Expat Essentials Index 2022 report compiled by the information and networking site InterNations made public on Tuesday, March 21.
Kenya outsmarted other African countries, such as South Africa, Nigeria and Egypt, to feature in the top 10 globally among countries offering better housing conditions for foreigners to settle in and other services.
Bahrain, UAE, Singapore, Estonia, Oman, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kenya and Canada made the top ten.
InterNations evaluated key elements of daily life that included housing, language, digital life and administration topics.
The report lauded the country, indicating expatriates had an easy job finding a house to occupy compared to Germany, Japan and China.
Besides getting a house, the report indicated that landlords in Kenya offered affordable housing rates to aliens. It also lauded local house administrators for creating a rapport for easy engagement with foreign tenants.
Additionally, Kenya was ranked high due to expatriates' experience in getting houses connected with high-speed internet.
Kenyans' ability to comprehend and communicate using different international languages was used to rank the country high according to Expat Essentials Index 2022 report.
"Housing is not an issue for expats in Kenya (12th for this subcategory) or Indonesia (2nd). Both destinations also do very well for Language, with Kenya coming third and Indonesia following in sixth place," the report read in part.
Further, InterNations, indicated that expatriates ranked Kenya high for its natural environment and the general climate.
"Here, I have better opportunities to achieve my goals," one immigrant told InterNations.
Safety and security dragged the country backwards in its bid to compete with other top countries such as Singapore and Estonia.
"But their mediocre results for Digital Life and Admin Topics affect the overall ranking: Kenya places ninth in the Expat Essentials Index, while Indonesia comes sixth," the report indicated.
Kenya beat Germany which came in at position 48 in digital life, 47 in housing and 49 in language subcategories.
"Expats are unhappy with the ease of getting high-speed internet access at home," the report explained the situation in Germany.
Compared to China, the report placed Kenya above the Asian country, arguing that expatriates were dissatisfied with restricted access to online services.
Japan trailed at position 51 due to the language barrier, which the report argued affected incomers seeking to settle in that Asian county.
"The language barrier is even more of a challenge in Japan. Fortunately, dealing with the local authorities does not seem too difficult, but their services are not easily available online," it observed.
According to local experts, the ranking is expected to spur development and foreign investments in the country.
