Report: Africa Not Prepared for Aging Population

November 23, 2011An elderly voter struggles into a polling station as the country goes to the polls in local municipal elections in Soweto, South Africa, Wednesday, May 18, 2011. (Photo/Denis Farrell)

A new report says African governments are ill prepared to handle the growing number of people over age 65. The African Development Bank is raising concerns over the lack of health insurance and pensions.

The report says the population in Africa, as in other parts of the world, is getting older. Currently, there are 36 million people on the continent 65 years and above. That’s 3.6 percent of the population, up from 3.3 percent 10 years ago. That could rise to 4.5 percent by 2030 and 10 percent by 2050.

No safety nets

The African Development Bank says, “Aging is highly linked with long-term physical and mental disability and a number of long-term chronic conditions.”

“Africa is not well prepared to care for its aging population right now. But…it needs to prepare for this phenomenon,” said Professor Mthuli Ncube, the African Development Bank’s chief economist.

African nations spend far less on healthcare than developed nations do -- about $26 per person per year.

“Not so many countries have well developed medical aid schemes for the elderly, whether they are privately provided schemes or indeed government schemes. And number two, if you look at the pension schemes, the pension industries, (they’re) not well developed in some of the countries. And here one is talking of a pension industry where both the employer and employee, while the employee is at a working age, contribute. These types of industries are also not well developed,” he said.