Fares for a trip to Goree Island in Senegal (the Communaute Financiere Africaine franc, CFA, is the Senegalese currency) break down like this:
Foreigners:
Adults- CFA 5,000 (US $13)
Children- CFA 2,500 (US $6)
Africans:
Adults- CFA 2,500 (US $6)
Children- CFA 1,500 (US $3.60)
Senegalese:
Adults- CFA 1,500 (US $3.60)
Children- CFA 500 (US $1.20)
Johannes KiessIn this skewed pricing scheme, non-Senegalese Africans pay the most for their children relative to their own ticket.
Freakonomics reader Johannes Kiess asks:
Does the pricing mean that Africans who travel with their children must be relatively rich compared to locals and non-Africans and therefore can pay relatively more for their tickets than Africans without children?
It may seem like that’s the case when you look at what some Africans pay for their dinners:
Freakonomics reader Justin Dombrow sent in this receipt from a dinner his South African friend had at the Victoria Falls Hotel in Zimbabwe.
But Dombrow’s friend doesn’t have to be rich to pay one and a quarter billion Zimbabwe dollars (ZWD) for two beers, a mineral water, and one dinner.
Thanks to inflation, it comes out to just $2.70 in U.S. dollars (according to OANDA.com).
Zimbabwe’s severe inflation sparked a parody of the Million Dollar Homepage — The Million Zimbabwean Dollar Homepage (worth US $0.002159).
(Send your FREAK-worthy photos here.)
and 
. You can also watch it on 
I love how the ‘mineral’ water is xactly one tenth of the dinner price- even at $95 million, bottled water is a ripoff
The receipt is dated March 23rd. At that time the black market exchange rate was 70 Million to 1 according to Wikipedia. So the dinner cost was $17.75. Today the black market rate is closer to 1 Billion to one.
Considering the state of Zimbabwe’s civil infrastructure, $95 million for bottled water is probably worth it, as the tap water could make you very sick.
Hilarious… in Zimbabwe I am a billionaire…
Well, I think the pricing scheme shouldn’t be overanalysed. I bet that there is huge bias due to existence – and convenience of use – of actual denominations of the currency… ?
What I want to know is how much the prices of the menu items changed from when Mr. Dombrow’s friend looked at the menu and ordered his food and when he paid for them. Or does the restaurant guarantee your price at the time of ordering.
More interesting would actually be how the menu looks. I imagine that the restaurant is at least somewhat fancy so a large whiteboard with constantly changing prices may not be acceptable. Do they re-print the menu 2 or 3 times per day so that it reflects current prices?
But do you think it is right to ask foreigners more? Like I am in Mumbai at the moment for work and in a lot of places it is 30 rupee for indian adult and 250 rupee for foreign adult (0.5 EUR compared with 4 EUR, 8 times more).
True, we have a higher income, but somehow it doesn’t feel ok to me. Why do I need to pay 8 times more to see exactly the same? I already pay tourist tax, I already buy all the local souvenirs and crafts for which i am overcharged, etc.
I saw photos from my friend’s recent trip to Zimbabwe. The stacks of rubber banded million dollar bills required to pay for dinner there are really astonishing.
Well, I am fine with price discrimination!
, in general it should work just fine. The alternative leaves either the locals paying an inflated price (in my eyes worst) or the tourists make a huge bargain (being one – not so bad, of course, but not optimal)…
There are usually two groups of customers foreigners and locals. They on balance differ massively by what they are willing to pay for… say a boat trip. And while discrimination is not perfect (rich locals, long-term backpackers
Of course you feel ripped off when paying X-times the local price but I think it’s fair enough if the income differential is high… and practically, well, you pay it in the end, don’t you? So…