This article discusses the demographic transition and its impact on the welfare of the elderly in Africa. It provides a brief socio-demographic profile on elderly Africans. Also, it addresses challenges brought about by population aging and how it affects the provision of services to address the care giving needs of the elderly. Additionally, it examines the major features and limitations of current social insurance and retirement programs in Africa. Finally, it proposes measures to better meet the challenges brought about by population aging.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AdamchakD. J.WilsonA. O.NyanguruA.HampsonJ. (1991). Elderly support and intergenerational transfer in Zimbabwe: An analysis by gender, marital status, and place of residence. The Gerontologist, 31 (4), 505–513.
2.
AdlakhaA. (1996, July). International brief population trends: Ghana.U.S. Department of Commerce, Economics and Statistics, IB/96–1.
3.
AptN. (1992) (Ed.). Ageing in Ghana. In Effective response to ageing in Africa by the year 2000.African Gerontological Society. AGES Publication.
4.
AptN. A. (1993). Care of the elderly in Ghana: An emerging issue. Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology, 8, 301–312.
5.
AptN. (1997). Ageing in Africa.Geneva: World Health Organization Ageing and Health Programme.
6.
AptN., & GriecoM. (1994). Urbanization, caring for the elderly people and the changing African family: The challenge to social policy. International Social Security Review, 47 (3–4), 111–121.
7.
ArdenerS. G. (1964). The comparative study of rotating credit associations. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 94, 201–229.
8.
BangaE. H. (1992). Social changes and the emerging images of the elderly in Ghana: Health and nursing implications. In AkiwumiA. (Ed)., Nursing education for the 21 century.Department of Nursing, University of Ghana, Legon.
9.
BangaE. H. (1993). The emerging image of the aged in Accra, capital of Ghana, BOLD, 3 (4), 11–15.
10.
CaldwellJ. C. (1982). Theory of fertility decline.Sydney: Academic Press.
11.
CattellM. G. (1992). Praise the Lord and say no to men: Older women empowering themselves in Samia, Kenya. Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology, 7 (4), 307–330.
12.
CohenB., & TrussellM. (1996). Preventing and mitigating AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa: Research and data priorities for the social and behavioral sciences.Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press.
13.
DarkwaO. K. (1997a). Retirement policies and economic security for older people in Africa. Southern African Journal of Gerontology, 6 (2), 32–36.
14.
DarkwaO. K. (1997b). Reforming the Ghanaian social security system: Prospects and challenges. Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology, 12 (2), 175–187.
15.
DuodoY. (1998). The need for geriatric services in Ghana. Southern African Journal of Gerontology, 7 (2), 33–34.
16.
EbrahimG. J. (1993). The Bamako initiative. Journal of Tropical Pediatrics, 39, 66–67.
17.
EngmanE. V. T. (1986). Population of Ghana: 1850–1960.Accra: Ghana University Press.
18.
GruatJ. V. (1990). Social security schemes in Africa: Current trends and problems. International Labour Review, 129 (4), 405–421.
19.
IngstadB.BruunF.SandbergE., & TlouS. (1992). Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology, 7, 379–398.
20.
JenkinsM. (1993). Extending social security protection to the entire population: Problems and issues. International Social Security Review, 46 (2), 3–20.
21.
KinsellaK. (1992). Aging trends: Kenya. Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology, 7, 259–268.
22.
KinsellaK., & FerreiraM. (1997, August). International brief: Aging trends: South Africa.U.S. Department of Commerce, Economics and Statistics Administration, IB/92–2.
23.
KinsellaK., & TaeuberC. M. (1993). An aging world II.U.S. Department of Commerce Bureau of the Census. International Population Report, P95/92–3.
24.
KludzeA. K. P. (1988). Formal and informal social security in Ghana. In Benda-BeckmanE.CasinoE.HirtzF.WoodmanG. H.ZacherH. F. (Eds.), Between kinship and the state: Social security and law in developing countries.Holland: Floris Publications, pp. 187–209.
25.
LampteyP., & GoodridgeG. (1991). Condom issues in AIDS prevention in Africa. AIDS, 2 (suppl. 1), 183–191.
26.
MidgleyJ. (1994). Social security policy in developing countries: Integrating state traditional systems. Focaal, 22/23, 219–230.
27.
MiracleM. P.MiracleD. S., & CohenL. (1980). Informal savings mobilization in Africa. Economic Development and Cultural Change, 28 (4), 701–724.
28.
MyersG. C. (1992). Demographic aging and family support for older persons. In KendigH.HashimotoA., & CoppardL. (Eds.), Family support for the elderly (pp. 30–68). Oxford Medical Publications.
29.
NabilaJ. S. (1986). Rural-urban migration and its applications for rural development in Ghana. In BrownC. K. (Ed.), Rural development in Ghana.Accra: Ghana Universities Press, pp. 75–89.
30.
NsubugaP.MugerwaR.NsibambiJ.SewankanboN.KatabiraE., & BerkleyS. (1990). The association of genital ulcer disease and HIV infection at a dermatology-STD clinic in Uganda. Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, 3 (10), 1002–1005.
31.
OkojieF. A. (1988). Aging in Sub-Saharan Africa: Toward a redefinition of needs research and policy directions. Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology, 3, 3–19.
32.
OtunbaT. O. (1997). Social Security for the ageing. Paper presented at the Third Global Conference on Ageing in Durban, October 19–23, 1997.
33.
PalmoreE. B., & MantonK. (1974). Modernization and the status of the aged: International correlations. Journal of Gerontology, 29, 205–210.
34.
PeilM. (1991, Spring). Family support for the Nigerian elderly. Journal of Comparative Family Studies, XXII (1), 85–89.
35.
PeilM.BamisaiyeP., & EkpenyongS. (1989). Health and physical support for the elderly in Nigeria. Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology, 4, 89–106.
36.
Population Trends (1993). U.S. Department of Commerce, Economics and Statistics Administration (1993). Economics and Statistics Administration Bureau of the Census. Center for International Research.
37.
PrattC. C., & KethleyA. J. (1988). Aging and family care giving in the future: Implications for education and policy. Educational Gerontology, 14, 657–576.
38.
PrualA.ChackoS., & Koch-WeserD. (1991). Sexual behavior, AIDS and poverty in sub-Saharan Africa. International Journal of STD and AIDS, 2 (1), 1–9.
39.
SchoepfB. G. (1992a). AIDS, sex and condoms: African healers and the reinvention of tradition in Zaire. Medical Anthropology, 14, 225–242.
40.
SchoepfB. G. (1992b). Women at risk: Case studies from Zaire. In HerdtG. & LindenbaumS.. The time of AIDS: Social analysis, theory, and method.Newbury Park: Sage.
41.
SimmonsL. W. (1945). The role of the aged in primitive society.New Haven: Yale University Press.
42.
SimonsenJ. N.CameronD. W.GakinyaM. N. (1988). Human immunodeficiency virus infection among men with sexually transmitted diseases: Experience from a center in Africa. New England Journal of Medicine, 319, 274–278.
43.
SimonsenJ. N.PlummerF. A.NgugiE. N. (1990). HIV infection among lower socioeconomic strata prostitutes in Nairobi. AIDS, 4, 139–144.
44.
SoenD., & ComarmondP. D. (1979). Savings associations among the Bamileke: Traditional and modern cooperation in southwest Cameroon. American Anthropologist, 74 (5), 1170–1179.
45.
TracyM. B. (1991). Social Policies for the elderly in the third world.Greenwood Press.
46.
TwumasiP. A. (1975). Medical systems in Ghana.Accra: Ghana Publishing Corporation.
47.
United Nations (1980). Demographic indicators of countries, estimates and projections as assessed in 1980.New York: United Nations Department of International Economic and Social Affairs.
48.
United Nations Department of International Economic and Social Affairs (1985). The world aging situation: Strategies and policies. UN Publications sales No. E.85. IV.5.
United Nations AIDS Programme (UNAIDS) (2000). HIV/AIDS in Africa: Fact Sheet. http://www.unaids.org.
51.
U.S. Bureau of the Census (1997). International Program Center, International Data Base.
52.
U.S. Department of Commerce, Economics and Statistics Administration (1996). International Brief world population at a glance: 1996 and beyond.
53.
Van de PerreP.RouvroyD., & LepageP. (1984). Acquired immunodeficiency in Rwanda. Lancet, 2, 62–65.
54.
Velez-IbanezC. G. (1983). Bonds of mutual trust: The cultural systems of rotating credit associations among urban Mexicans and Chicanos.New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press.
55.
WasserheitJ. N. (1992). Epidemiological synergy: Inter-relationships between HIV infection and other STDs. In ChenL.Sepulveda AmorJ., & SegalS. J. (Eds.), AIDS and women's reproductive health.New York: Plenum Press.
56.
WillisR. (1987). Externalities and population. In JohnsonD. G. & LeeR. D. (Eds.), Population growth and economic development: Issues and evidence.Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press.
57.
WillisR. (1988). Life cycles, institutions and population growth: A theory of equilibrium interest rate in an overlapping-generations model. In LeeR.ArthurW. B., & RodgersG. (Eds.), Economics of changing age distributions in developed countries (pp. 106–138). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
58.
World Bank (1993). World Development Report. Investing in health. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
59.
World Population Profile (1998). US Agency for International Development. Bureau for Global Programs, Field Support, and Research Office of Population, WP98.
