10 Best Places to Retire in Africa

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One of these best places to retire in Africa could be the answer for those thinking of an abroad retirement plan.

When most of us turn 50 or so, a recurring thought starts to occupy our minds: retirement. Many questions arise: What’s the proper age? When’s the perfect time to do it? Should I stay where I live, or should I move somewhere else? Will money be enough?

10 Best Places to Retire in Africa

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For those concerned with the economic aspect of retirement, the idea of moving to a less expensive country can sound very tempting. The math is quite simple, by moving to countries with lower costs of living, our retirement funds become much more efficient. If our retirement money isn’t enough, it might just be in another country; and if it is, it could be worth much more over there.

According to Numbeo, the cost of living in South Africa is on average 50% lower than in the US, and keeping in mind that South Africa is one of the most expensive countries in Africa, numbers speak for themselves.

For those who haven’t yet been there, the idea of moving to Africa can be a little unsettling.  Thoughts of war, malnourished children, exotic diseases and political instability come to mind. But those images couldn’t be further away from the truth. Africa is the world’s second largest and most-populous continent, encompassing 54 sovereign states, 23 of which have English as an official language. It offers an enormous range of cultures, languages, and landscapes, and, though it is the truth that certain countries lack proper development and stability, there are plenty of others with modern, civilized, advanced societies, as one could find anywhere else in the world.

Still, since we know safety is a concern for those thinking about retiring in Africa, we chose to make this list following the Global Peace Index provided by the Institute for Economics and Peace, which ranks African countries according to their overall level of peace and safety conditions. We gave extra points to the countries that have English as an official language. To complete our list, we chose the places with the best flight connectivity in each of the best countries, using data provided by World Aero Data, because we know family visits are important to retirees. Living costs were left out of this list as a ranking criterion, since, as mentioned earlier, even the most expensive of African countries have a very important price difference from the US.

Even though Africa is a wonderful continent offering many possibilities for aspiring retirees, we understand that moving there might not be in everyone’s mind, so we invite anyone with doubts about Africa to check out our list of best places to retire in Australia, all of which could be nice, but definitely not as cheap as these best places to retire in Africa.

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