money matters in Togo and Nigeria

 

With my friend in Lagos.

August 7, 2014 - Lomé, Togo
On the way to the Lomé airport in the pre-arranged cab, I enjoyed a conversation-in-French with the driver. We’d set the price of 5000 CFA ahead of time, but along the way he asked if I had small bills because sometimes visitors don’t have them. I assured him I did, and once we reached the airport, I pulled out 3 bills worth 2000 CFA each. But I guess I don’t really know what counts as small bills in CFA, and alas, he didn’t have 1000 CFA to give me as change. Feeling a little scammed, I still offered to give him the full 6000 since I couldn’t use the money once I left the country anyway. I’d just been hoping for enough for a snack at the airport. But he wouldn’t take it. He would only accept 4000, shorting himself. I dug out my last bits of Togolese change and managed to come up with 650 CFA more, for a total of 4650, closer but still not the full price. That’s a man I want to do business with again. 

Then I entered the airport and tried to pass through immigration, but they told me I had overstayed my visa. I had reported the full dates of my stay when I entered the country, so I just assumed my visa would cover my full stay. But tourist visas, which are received on entry to the country, are only good for 7 days. I was leaving on day 9. They asked for the cost of a whole additional week: US$30 or 15,000 CFA, but all I had left was that 2000 CFA that the cab driver didn’t take. And I don’t have access to US dollars any more. I wasn’t really sure what the options were, so I didn’t suggest anything other than saying that 2000 CFA was all I had. Eventually, they accepted it and let me leave!

But this meant I had no local currency for breakfast/morning snack. Thus, at the airport snack bar, I scrounged through my euro coins (they said they accepted euros) to pay for my 1000 CFA (about US$2) croissant. But the server was trying to figure out the exact correct price in euros, even though I was ready to hand over a 2 euro coin and call it good. A francophone African man ordering coffee beside me observed all the mathematical machinations going on and said he would just pay for my croissant for me. 

So, basically, I met some helpful strangers today!

At the same snack bar, I overheard a couple discussing the man's headache. The server at the bar said you had to go back through security to buy aspirin. So I told the couple I had ibuprofin with me. The man accepted it gratefully. But, even when you're just trying to be helpful, giving over-the-counter medications to a stranger feels sketchy! I could have been giving him anything! It was nice to be trusted, though, and nice to return, in a way, one of the favors I had just been given.

August 11, 2014 - Lagos, Nigeria
This afternoon I went around the corner from my friend Juyin's house, where I'm staying here in Lagos, to eat a bit of late lunch at a traditional café. Most of the food was too spicy for me (I’m a weakling! Especially while recovering from side effects of anti-malaria meds), so I had a few plantains and a Coke and lingered a little while reading. When I stopped to pay before leaving, they told me a gentleman had already paid for my meal. What?! I felt like I was at a bar except no one ever took credit.  No one had even tried to talk to me as I chomped my plantains and read my book. I’m so used to not fully understanding everything in France, that as I walked out the door, I was afraid I’d misunderstood and they’d come chasing after me. If this is how Nigerians treat guests, well, I’ll take it.