hey YouTube Alex here and in today's video I want to answer the question why don't more expats choose Africa I got this question months ago and I never got around to answering it so I thought I'd go ahead
and answer why more people don't choose Africa why Africa doesn't come up in conversation more so let's get into it before I get into this I want to mention that this video is not meant to disparage people from
Africa African immigrants those who have a culturally African background it's simply to point out the reasons as to why it doesn't come up as much I've asked guys about this I've talked to different expats people have different opinions
as to why this is the case and I thought i' boil it down to five simple reasons as to why xats don't choose Africa as much as they choose some other parts of the world the first reason that
xats don't choose Africa is cost of living there's this misperception that I hear from some people that oh Africa must be so economical because wages may not be as high Economic Development may not be as high as some
other parts of the world depending on where you go in Africa and so there's this misnomer oh well if the wages aren't as high then the costs must be less that's not the case you look at places like
Luanda Angola Luanda is not cheap it's extremely expensive and that's an extreme example but it's considered to have one of the highest costs of living in the world I think because most products are imported we'll get into to
infrastructure a little bit later in the video but I went to Morocco early last year and I paid $50 for a decent hotel room you can get a decent hotel room in Thailand 20 30 bucks a night here
in the Philippines 20 30 bucks a night depending on where you go so paying almost double that right off the bat your cost per day is going to be substantially higher I also found food in Morocco to not
be that cheap I think I spent close to $20 I think I spent close to $20 on a Turkish style dinner in tenier I've heard Egypt can also be costly compared to Southeast Asia I've also heard South Africa
can be costly compared to Southeast Asia or Latin America if you want to live in a safe area in these countries if you want to live in a desirable area it ain't going to be cheap I think same
goes for countries like Uganda or Kenya I've heard are very popular just because a place is regarded as economical doesn't mean it's actually an economic place to live I've heard this about where I'm from and the southern us
oh just move to the South it's so cheap yeah maybe 20 years ago okay maybe 20 years ago it was a cheap place to live it was economical now in regards to wages versus cost of living it's not
a good deal uh so this idea that oh you just go to Africa because it's so economical I think a number of these people that say that they may have never stepped foot in Africa not to say that's
everybody that suggests that but I do get this question why not not go to Africa and the cost is top of mine there the top reason I hear about guys traveling in Africa is that they are of African
descent and they have some family or cultural tie to a specific country or location in Africa one of my professors in college was from Sagal and he'd periodically go back to Sagal so he had a reason to go
there he has family there a large extended family that he likes to spend time with and and he cannot easily see these family members outside of senagal so his reason for being there is not retirement it's not cost
of living it's not dating it's to go see his family the second reason would be adventure guys who are super adventurous they want to go to Africa because they get the sense that it's less well traveled than some
other continents or parts of the world we're speaking in really broad terms here Africa is not a monolith there's East Africa there's West Africa there's Africa north of the Sahara Africa south of the Sahara there are parts of
Africa that are regarded as very safe all the way to extremely unsafe depending on where you go in the continent so Adventure is the second reason to go there but if cost of living is top of mind for
you it's just simply not going to be the case that you're going to get all these crazy deals are there places that I would say are budget friendly absolutely compared to the US certainly there are many places in
Africa that are more economical if you're principally price focused you're better off looking at Latin America or southeast Asia Eastern Europe than you are at looking looking at Africa broadly speaking one of the places I would consider spending
time in even though I haven't been there I've done a lot of research is Cape Town South Africa I've had some friends go there and enjoy it but to visit Cape Town is not that cheap it's considered one
of the most desirable cities in Africa even within South Africa and you're going to pay a premium to be there it's not going to be the most budget friendly destination I wouldn't call it outrageously expensive but you want
to do things like Safari or participate in the natural attraction you're going to pay for that so that's the first reason why a lot of guys don't go to South Africa is that if they're budget conscious they're simply
not going to find the extraordinary deals that they might find in other parts of the world to have a safe high quality of life may cost them even more than it would cost in the west the number two
reason is that many people have a perception of Africa again speaking of broad terms here is not safe they think about certain regions like Somalia or Congo even South Africa which I mentioned earlier they look at some of
the unrest that has happened there they don't feel that it's a particularly safe destination I understand there are countries places like Rwanda for example that have a strong reputation for safety in 2024 those portrayals in Western media of
some of the hots spot zones some of the unsafe zones particular particularly dangerous for travelers especially Travelers who would not blend in people who are not local to the area people who don't have family there people who don't
have relatives that can help them to navigate places that may not have the same infrastructure that tourists are accustom to it can become dangerous I mean even a trained athlete competing in the UFC a former competitor in the
UFC Michael Bisping he ran into issues in Cape Town which is regarded as some what safer than some other parts I myself was accosted in Morocco I took a photo of a sign outside of a restaurant and the
individual who owned it started following me down the street demanding money grabbing at my clothes trying to not let me leave I started yelling for the police and eventually he let go after people started staring at him that
was just one incident where I did not feel safe and I would recommend tourists that want to go there to be very cautious and considerate of that I did not have issues with touts or scams but that may
be because I could blend in a little bit easier in Morocco I had some Moroccan people tell me I I could pass for Moroccan so you may not be able to I don't know where you're from I don't
know where you live I don't know about your ethnic background but that's a concern where I don't feel like I did anything to elicit this response I just stood there waiting for somebody to come out of this restaurant
nobody came and I thought a design on the establishment looked cool so I took a picture started to walk away and this guy starts shouting at me and then trying to follow me and uh you look up and
it turns out I'm not the only person that have had these kinds of challenges there this isn't to disparage Morocco this isn't to critique Morocco I've known a lot of travelers to go there and to not have issues
but I have to mention that safety is of concern and a lot of people have this perception rightfully or wrongfully so that if they go to Africa they're going to run into some kind of situation that is out
of their control and may impact their well-being like I said I haven't traveled much in Africa I've been to Morocco and that's it but that was what happened in just the tip like day two of me being in
Africa that's a concern that a lot of people have that a lot of Travelers have and it's even more so the case if they're an elderly retiree they may feel hey I'm particularly vulnerable to aggressive TS or scammers
or people of ill repute and I'm not going to easily be able to run away from a situation that turns out to be dangerous I'm not going to easily be able to get away from these kinds of circumstances
I mentioned here you can do research on the challenges that some people have faced in some of these countries but I wouldn't be honest if I didn't mention that a lot of people have this concern about safety that
they may not have about some other parts of the world and I think to be fair here to Africa there are unsafe parts of every continent of every country anywhere you go in the world that has people there
is risk associated with that some place are less risky than others some places have the perception of less risk than others and that's one of those things that Africa does seem to struggle with to some extent that's reason
number two some people just don't perceive Africa broadly speaking to be as safe as some other places I don't think it's entirely Fair because I do think that there are some countries and cities within Africa that are safe
that explains why some people are not looking at Africa as a potential retirement destination number three is infrastructure we're not talking about man infrastructure here we're talking about natural geography there is this philosopher Thomas saell and I'm not
going to sit here and say everything he says is good or everything he says is bad but one of the things that he's mentioned and know I'm I'm going to frustrate some audience members here by mentioning Thomas sa
but one of the things that he mentions is that there are a lack of navigable rivers in Africa and if you notice the countries that do have navigable Rivers they tend to be the wealthiest and most prosperous part
of Africa Nigeria Egypt Morocco South Africa and there's some others as well that aren't immediately coming to mind when you don't have the benefit of naturally beneficial infrastructure you have areas that are prone to droughts or prone to
flooding and this extreme inclement weather that may be exacerbated by climate change that it makes it difficult and costly to get around it's not so easy to just get in a car and drive you may have areas that
it's a struggle to get gasoline for your vehicle as an example you may be in an area prone to flooding and then you get stuck because the highway is going this way there's no way to loop around it
and so then you get stuck for a while and some Travelers are very time sensitive and they can't afford to wait hotels in that area if it's rural they may be quite expensive to be able to stay in
a modern Hotel I've seen some vloggers attempt to do road trips in Africa and they talk about some of the issues that they run into the infrastructure is still a challenge there not only based on geography but also
just on the fact that there are different countries that have different budgets and different means for infrastructure and you may be able to travel well within one country but you go to the neighboring country and all of a
sudden it's harder to get around it's not easy to find it's not easy to find places to stay it's not easy to get around and it's not like a place like southeast Asia where there's plenty of Tourism infrastructure
this part of the world has seen tourism for many decades it's easy to find hotels anywhere you go it's easy to find Transportation there's public transportation everywhere that may be another challenge that people run into in Africa is
desperate public transportation maybe you can travel in Morocco very easily by a bus but you go to Western Sahara and there's no public transportation so these are some things to be mindful of that if your person likes to
to travel around and you don't want to just post up in one town which is more my style then you may have a hard time in Africa getting around flights can also be very expensive I've priced out flights
in Africa it can be cost prohibitive to actually fly from one part of the continent to another part of the continent where in Asia it seems like it's more economical uh especially if you're in Mainland southeast Asia it's
very economical to fly from Thailand to Vietnam Vietnam to Cambodia Vietnam to Indonesia there's a lot of intercountry travel options that in Africa you may not have the same variety of options you may not have the same level
of demand that's another thing that with the interest not being comparable to other parts of the world if you don't have as much demand they can really charge a lot for those people that do want to go there
you probably don't have the same level of competition that you'd have in other parts of the world to travel around there Southeast Asia easy sell Latin America still a pretty easy sell Europe easy sell United States easy sell
natural disasters may also destroy infrastructure natural disasters May wipe out Bridges May wipe out roads may wipe out hotels and other kinds of buildings such that people want to invest they want to spend money there to build hotels
and other kinds of Tourism infrastructure but then their project is going to get wiped out so that's another concern there in terms of infrastructure challenges once again your mileage may vary some parts of Africa are more natural disaster
prone than others but I think it's important to acknowledge that part of the appeal of Asia is that you can go to other parts of Asia some people don't have that perception about Africa that okay I like this
country it's not going to be so easy to find another place or get to another place for a weekend trip it may be too costly it may be out of budget for me to fly from Rwanda to South
Africa or vice versa number four is health concerns if you're like me then you've known of somebody at least one person who has a health care background that has traveled to Africa to work in a missionary capacity to
treat people to attempt to heal people I have a friend who went to teach and donate his time in Tanzania he's got an uncle that actually runs a nonprofit there and for young guys they may not be that
concerned about Healthcare ah whatever you know I can just tough it out I can I'm less prone to health ailments than an older retiree with xat retirees they may not feel satisfied by the health care options from my
understanding it's not easy to find Quality Health Care in different parts of Africa Nigeria comes to mind where I worked with a guy who actually immigrated the US from Nigeria and he talked about his grandmother having a major
health care scare there uh due to due to inadequate access to health care so if you're a guy who has some kind of health condition you need specialized treatment a certain kind of medication that may not exist over
there so a lot of the guys who can afford to live this lifestyle tend to be older and if they're concerned about getting quality treatment then it really makes that option off limit on top of that do they
want to live in a big city maybe they don't want to live in a big city maybe they feel that living in a big city could be quite stressful and that that's the only place in that African country
that has sufficient Health Care Services to meet their deand or meet their needs to help to keep them alive so for some guys it's a matter of survival they feel that hey you know what I'd love to live
in this country or that country but I don't feel that the health care services are able to provide me what I need my former cooworker from Nigeria said that's one of the things he loves about the United States
that with all of its faults the Health Care system is effective now it is very expensive cost prohibitive for a lot of people but it is high quality and high quality in a way that he felt was not
present in Nigeria now I don't know if it was localized to the city his grandmother is from or living in or if it's a Countrywide challenge but certainly for expat retirees that have healthc care as a top of-
mind concern then they're going to be more limited as far as places to live cities to live and may not be able to enjoy a provincial lifestyle say on the outskirts of like a manila or a Sabu because
let's say the infrastructure has a problem on the day you need to go to the doctor that combination of problems can really create some risk for you there number five is a lack of established xack communities I found
that that's a big advantage of here in dumag Getti is that when you come here to dumag Getti you are surrounded by expats right you are surrounded by foreigners many of whom are from the United States or the
UK the West Wern world and they speak great English they can relate to your problems in many cases they can relate to your challenges and that really gives guys a sense of acceptance and of happiness I think really
truly the thing that makes me happiest here in duetti is that sense of community and so if you go to a if you go to an area in Africa that doesn't have a substantial xack Community or maybe the
community is more transient maybe it's less well established maybe you don't have as many bars or restaurants resp to cater to that crowd you may feel isolated you may feel lonely now I'm not saying that Africa doesn't have
these xad hotspots obviously tangir where I went is notorious for having xats and an xat Community going back many years back to the beach generation ker doesn't represent everywhere in Africa your mileage may vary there as well I've
talked to some folks that have lived in South Africa and they've talked about how they've known a lot of people to leave they they ran into some kind of crime issue in South Africa and it basically caused them
to get fed up or fear for their well-being and they just left the country it's not uncommon to hear this from South Africans living abroad that they ran into some kind of crime issue in South Africa and they
wanted to leave for their own well-being when you have people leaving due to Crime concerns it doesn't exactly make it easy to establish a community I've never heard anybody leaving the Philippines due to Crime I have heard of
people leaving because they brought their fiance or wife back to their home country I've heard some guys of course run into Financial issues that need to go back but it's never been an issue but I've never heard of
crime being a major factor like I have for some parts of Africa I'm sure you can build a community there there are some great vloggers that do a fantastic job with Africa and are able to really show a
lot of nice things there that a lot of Western people are not familiar with that would be curious to enjoy I'm happy to travel back to Africa in the future Rwanda is high on my list I'm even interested
in South Africa Egypt is on my list curious about Nigeria but some of these options are more for hardcore Travelers they're not places I would recommend for inexperienced Travelers people who do not have experience traveling in some places
that are prone to safety concerns I've been to some dangerous places in the world and I feel confident that I can prepare to na navigate these places but I wouldn't recommend somebody who's never left the United States for
example to go and to live in some of these places because it's just not going to be as beginner friendly where southeast Asia much of it is very beginner friendly much of it is very easy it's not going
to be hard to get around it's not going to be hard to find Western food it's not going to be hard to exchange money it's not going to be difficult to go from country to Country so this has
been a video on five reasons as to why more expats don't choose Africa could that change in the coming years absolutely you have a lot of Economic Development happening there you have a lot of economic growth happening there
you have a lot of people who are curious about living there I'm not opposed to it I'm not saying don't do it I'm just saying that these are five of the reasons why it may not be the perfect
fit for a lot of people of course I'm speaking in Broad generalities we're talking about a continent with tons of people with tons of variety and Landscapes and cultures and Cuisine and Lifestyles I'm speaking only at a very
high level here like I said I haven't traveled much in Africa just to Morocco so I can't give you the boots on the ground experience some other vloggers may be able to provide for you if this video has
been helpful for you let me know what you think down in the comments would you become an expat in Africa would you live there have you traveled there what are the reasons to live there what are the reasons
not to live there it helps to generate interesting discussion also if you want to help the channel gives a thumbs up it helps with the algorithm finally if you want to see more content like this subscribe to the
channel down below and we'll see you soon bye-bye
