my opinion

Developed Country vs Developing Country

Life in a developing country is far more expensive than in a developed country.

In Celebrity Apprentice, the winning team receives an award of $20,000 towards their choice charity, and it has been surprising to see the celebrities appreciate that as an award,not that it is not 'something', its just that had it been on this end, the equivalent would be around Ksh.1.6Million which for a foundation I work with currently would go towards supporting 8 children through their four years secondary education www.palmhsefoundation.org against a target of 70 children. This means that such an award would be not as competitive to a celebrity here as it is in the developed country and clearly the cost of basic education is quite expensive here.

I traveled to LA, California for RYLA-Rotary Youth Leadership Awards a while back a two weeks trip. I carried with me Ksh.50,000 ($640) and I made it back with Ksh.30,000 ($385). I would pay for my meals, take a bus or a cab and managed to bring back souvenirs for my family. That was far lower than I expected to spend and I was not a miser.
I bet that it was an issue of standard of living, I went for basic commodities that are quite expensive on this end as compared to the same in developed countries. I did not think of quality, rather availability.

The cost of communication is quite high in developing countries and the gadgets are only available to the elite few, transport costs are forbidding and we have many who walk to and fro work for long distances. In my country, we have been trying to develop a 24hr economy but offices and shops are located within the city centre while the population live in outskirts and with inadequate and expensive lighting structure, the city centre is deserted at night.

The low income earners spend more than middle and high income earners. They buy basic commodities in pieces which costs much more in the long run than bulk purchasing made by middle and high income earners. Our main evaluation of products is availability and not quality.

Local telecommunication campaigns only widen the gap between the rich and poor as costs are very expensive for low denomination value of airtime and internet which the poor are only able to afford, if and when the access it. The larger the denomination value, the cheaper it becomes and this locks out the poor.

The poor buy paraffin for cooking and lighting as a cheaper oil product as compared to buying LPG which comes packaged in bulk and thus cheaper in the long run, benefits the middle and high income earners.

Large multinationals are closing shop on this end as the costs of productions are steep and we have become net importers as our export is mainly agricultural products affected by changes in weather.

Of course corruption and poor systems increases our costs due to inadequacies which some take advantage of and exploit them. Black markets and hoarding also increase our costs to unbearable heights.

We also have many tax defaulters who do not contribute to development kitty, a scarcity mentality indeed as they would also have lower costs if accountability by all was observed.

The most unfortunate thing is that we have poverty of the mind. Compounds directly in-front of our houses are extremely dirty, we have litter everywhere, sewerage spew on the road and no one claims responsibility of these 'small things',we demand for responsibility from our leaders for 'large things' but we do not expect much as they come from us.

These among more could be reasons why costs in developing countries are higher than in developed countries.