Exchange Rates We Use — and When We Last Checked Them
Every local-currency figure on this site is converted at the rates below, last verified in June 2026. African currencies move fast, so we publish the rate, the date and the source rather than quietly rounding a number and hoping you do not check. If a figure elsewhere on the site disagrees with this page, this page is correct — tell us and we will fix the other one.
Rates as at June 2026
Mid-market rates. Anchor currency is the euro. Cross-rates: £1 ≈ €1.16, $1 ≈ €0.877 (€1 ≈ $1.14).
| Currency | Per €1 | Per £1 | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nigeria — NGN ₦ | 1,575 | 1,807 | Highly volatile |
| Kenya — KES KSh | 148 | 172 | |
| Ghana — GHS ₵ | 13.6 | 15.8 | Cedi moved ~4% against older 13.0 quotes |
| South Africa — ZAR R | 18.8 | 21.8 | |
| Egypt — EGP E£ | 56.4 | 65.4 | Floated March 2024 — any source quoting ~20/€ is stale |
| Uganda — UGX | 4,190 | 4,860 | |
| Zambia — ZMW ZK | 22.5 | 26.1 | Noisy; has traded 20–23 |
| Zimbabwe | Quote in USD | $1 ≈ €0.877 | |
How to use these figures
- Treat every converted figure as indicative. They are here so you can size a decision, not so you can budget to the last unit.
- Re-check before you transfer money. Use your bank’s rate or the central bank’s daily rate on the day — Bank of Zambia, Central Bank of Nigeria, and so on. Your bank’s spread will be worse than mid-market.
- Embassies care about the amount in the destination currency. A blocked account must hold €11,904 regardless of what that costs you in naira on the day, so build in headroom for the rate moving against you between saving and transferring.
- Watch for stale figures elsewhere. Two common ones: Egypt quoted at roughly 20 EGP/€ (pre-2024 float), and Poland’s student visa quoted at €80 or €135 (it has been €200 since 1 January 2026).
A worked example
Germany’s blocked account requirement is €11,904 for the year. At ₦1,575/€ that is ₦18,748,800 — roughly ₦18.75 million. If the naira weakened 10% before you transferred, the same €11,904 would cost you about ₦20.6 million. That gap is the reason we publish the rate and the date rather than a single rounded figure.
Why we bother
Study-abroad sites are full of currency figures with no rate and no date attached. That is how a student ends up short at the bank counter. Our rule is the same as everywhere else on this site: show the number, show where it came from, show when we checked, and say plainly when it is likely to be wrong by the time you read it.
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