Currency Converter

Which currencies are supported?

32 currencies in total. The three majors — US dollar (USD), euro (EUR) and British pound (GBP) — plus the South African rand and 28 African currencies. Southern Africa: Namibian dollar, Lesotho loti, Eswatini lilangeni (all CMA-pegged 1:1 to ZAR), Botswana pula, Zimbabwe gold, Mozambican metical, Zambian and Malawian kwacha, Angolan kwanza. East & Central Africa: Kenyan, Tanzanian and Ugandan shilling, Rwandan franc, Ethiopian birr, Congolese franc, Central African CFA franc. West Africa: Nigerian naira, Ghanaian cedi, West African CFA franc, Sierra Leonean leone, Liberian dollar, Gambian dalasi, Cape Verdean escudo. North Africa: Egyptian pound, Moroccan dirham, Algerian, Tunisian and Libyan dinar. Indian Ocean: Mauritian rupee, Malagasy ariary, Seychellois rupee.

Why are the Namibian dollar, Lesotho loti and Swazi lilangeni always exactly 1:1 with the rand?

Namibia, Lesotho and Eswatini are members of the Common Monetary Area (CMA) along with South Africa. Under the CMA treaty, their currencies are formally pegged at parity with the rand — 1 NAD = 1 ZAR exactly, and the same for LSL and SZL. South African rand notes circulate freely in all three countries (you can pay for groceries in Windhoek with rand). We hard-code the peg in this calculator because the live API feed sometimes drifts to 0.998 or 1.002 due to dealer noise — that drift is meaningless under the treaty.

What exchange rate does this currency converter use?

We pull mid-market reference rates from open.er-api.com (with exchangerate.host as a backup). The mid-market rate is the ‘true’ rate banks use when they trade with each other — it’s the rate Google and XE typically show. Banks, ATMs and money-transfer services normally add a 2–5% margin on top, so the rate you actually receive when buying or selling currency will be slightly worse than what you see here.

How often are the rates updated?

The page refreshes the live rate every time you load it, and you can press ‘Refresh rate’ to pull the latest figure on demand. If the live feed is unavailable, we fall back to a reference snapshot taken on 2026-05-01 so the converter still works. Note that for thinly-traded African currencies (eg Sierra Leonean leone, Liberian dollar) interbank rates can lag the actual on-the-ground rate by a day or two.

What’s the cheapest way to send money from South Africa to Zimbabwe, Mozambique, or another African country?

For SADC corridors (Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini, Namibia), Mukuru, Hello Paisa and Mama Money usually offer the best combined rate + fee for amounts under R5,000. Above R10,000, Wise, Standard Bank Shyft and TymeBank’s SendMoney are typically cheaper. For Nigeria, Kenya and Ghana, Wise and Sendwave tend to win. Bank wire transfers are almost always the most expensive option — expect a R450–R650 SWIFT fee plus a 3–5% margin on the rate.

Is this the rate I’ll get from my bank?

Almost certainly not — you’ll get a worse rate. South African banks (FNB, Standard Bank, ABSA, Nedbank, Capitec) typically add 1.5–3% to the mid-market rate when you buy foreign currency, plus a flat fee per transaction. Wise, Standard Bank Shyft and Currency Hub usually offer rates closer to the mid-market with lower fees.

Why does the Zimbabwean dollar (ZWG) keep changing?

The Zimbabwe gold (ZWG) is Zimbabwe’s sixth currency since 2009 — it replaced the ZWL (Zimbabwean dollar) in April 2024 and is notionally backed by gold reserves at the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe. Like its predecessors, it’s prone to sharp official devaluations and a wide gap between the official rate (which we show here) and the parallel/street rate. For practical Zimbabwe transactions, most prices are still quoted in US dollars — that USD rate is usually the more useful number.

What about the West African and Central African CFA francs?

Both CFA francs (XOF for the eight West African states, XAF for the six Central African states) are formally pegged to the euro at 1 EUR = 655.957 CFA. They don’t fluctuate against the euro at all — only against the rand to the extent the EUR/ZAR rate moves. If you’re travelling to Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, Cameroon or Gabon, the CFA rate against the rand will track EUR/ZAR almost exactly.

Why is the rand so volatile?

The rand is one of the most heavily traded emerging-market currencies in the world. It’s sensitive to global risk sentiment, commodity prices (gold, platinum, coal), domestic political events, and US Federal Reserve interest-rate decisions. It’s normal to see 1–2% moves in a single day, and 5%+ moves around major events like Budget speeches, election results, or US Fed announcements.

Do I pay tax when I convert currency?

Buying foreign currency for travel doesn’t trigger a tax event by itself. SARS does, however, tax foreign-currency gains and losses on amounts you hold or invest. South African residents have an annual Single Discretionary Allowance of R1 million plus a Foreign Investment Allowance of R10 million (with a SARS tax compliance status approval). Above R11 million per year, you need full Reserve Bank approval. Speak to a tax practitioner before moving large amounts offshore.