Africa’s population is growing old but faces uncertain future, reports AfDB
Tunis, 16 November 2011 – Africa’s population is ageing, just like in the rest of the world, but the continent’s governments are ill equipped to handle the growing number of older people. That’s the main conclusion of a new report from the African Development Bank (AfDB).
The percentage of people aged over 65 in Africa has grown to 3.6 percent in 2010 from 3.3 percent in 2000. It is a long-term phenomenon, having steadily grown over the last 40 years, and it will accelerate in coming years.
The elderly could account for 4.5 percent of the continent’s population by 2030, and almost 10 percent by 2050. In some countries, the proportion of older people will match that of industrialised countries by 2030 and 2050.
The statistics in the report run contrary to the generally accepted view in the west that Africa is a place with low life expectancy. Life expectancy in Africa is still lower than in developed countries, but it is increasing, and this is worthy of note.
Life expectancy at birth in Africa was 52.7 years in 1990, but had risen to 56 years by 2010.The biggest growth has occurred in middle-income African countries, such as Mauritius, South Africa, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia. Other countries such as Libya, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Djibouti have also witnessed fast growth among the elderly population.
However, unlike many developed countries, African nations are in general not particularly well equipped to deal with the growing numbers of older people. The main concerns are healthcare and pensions.
In much of Africa, governments spend far less on health care than in most of the developed world. In 2005, 48 of the 54 African countries spent an average of less than USD 26 per capita on healthcare.
The deterioration in traditional patterns of family support in Africa compounds the problem. This deterioration is due to growing urbanisation and – in some African countries – the effects of HIV/AIDS. Many elderly people in Africa are burdened with childcare because of the HIV/AIDS-related deaths of parents.
The healthcare problem is critical because of long-term chronic conditions associated with age, such as heart disease, cancer, respiratory disorders and dementia.
Older populations across the world suffer these ailments, but the AfDB report suggests that they will increase faster in developing countries, where the system is less capable of dealing with them, than in the developed world.
Many older Africans also do not have even a small pension to rely on. The report says: ‘Contributory pension schemes cover very few people due to the informality of most livelihood activities and employment. Most societies are predominantly rural and much of the population operates outside the security of formal sector, wage-dependent markets’.
Source: AfDB press release
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