Tales of a fountain of youth have spread around the world for centuries, and while so far no one’s discovered such a magical fountain, a few countries’ senior citizens seem to have found the perfect combination of diet, activity, and healthcare, leading them to live years longer than others. Life expectancy is a statistical measure of the estimate of the span of a life. The most commonly used measure is life expectancy at birth (LEB). Life expectancy at birth reflects the overall mortality level of a population.
It is the average number of years that a person may expect to live, from birth to death. Studies indicate that longevity is based on three major factors: genetics, gender, and lifestyle, which includes components such as hygiene, diet and exercise, culture, lifestyle choices (such as smoking and profession), access to quality healthcare, and even crime rates. Given country-to-country differences in many of these components, it is perhaps unsurprising that countries around the world have varying life expectancies.
Here are the top 10 countries with the lowest life expectancies in Africa.
| Rank | Country | Male | Female | All |
| 1. | Chad | 50.84 | 54.28 | 52.52 |
| 2. | Nigeria | 52.28 | 53.07 | 52.68 |
| 3. | Lesotho | 50.37 | 55.93 | 53.06 |
| 4. | Central African Republic | 51.65 | 56.30 | 53.90 |
| 5. | South Sudan | 53.43 | 56.47 | 54.98 |
| 6. | Somalia | 53.25 | 57.41 | 55.28 |
| 7. | Eswatini | 53.37 | 61.25 | 57.07 |
| 8. | Cote d’Ivoire | 57.40 | 59.94 | 58.60 |
| 9. | Guinea | 57.59 | 60.10 | 58.89 |
| 10. | Mali | 57.62 | 60.33 | 58.94 |
