The Director-General of, the National Senior Citizens Centre (NSCC), Dr Emem Omokaro, has said people now live longer in Africa than they did two decades ago, noting that life expectancy has increased by 11 years.

Omokaro said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) at the 61st session of the United Nations Commission for Social Development (CSocD61) in New York.

CSocD61, the advisory body for the social development pillar of global development, started its meeting on Feb. 6 and ends on Feb. 15 at UN headquarters.

NAN reports that Omakaro, who represented Nigeria, presented the “Statement of Africa on Fourth Review and Appraisal of the Madrid Plan of Action on Ageing (MIPAA) in Africa 2018-2022: Key Findings and Recommendation,” on behalf of 54 African countries.

She said life expectancy in Africa had increased from 51.7 years in 1990-1995 to 62.4 years in 2015-2020, corresponding to a 10.7-year gain notably older ages.

According to her, on average people aged 60 could expect to live a further 17 years.

“Africa’s population of people aged 65 or older has increased from about eight million (3.5 per cent) in 1950 to about 50.3 million (4 per cent) in 2017.

“This figure is estimated to more than triple to 173.6 million by 2050,” she said.

Omokaro said the purpose of the review and appraisal was to see the progress of African countries in the implementation of MIPAA and discuss ways to accelerate it.

MIPAA, adopted in 2002, offers a comprehensive action plan for handling the issue of ageing in the 21st century and for building a society for all ages.

It focuses on three priority areas: older persons and development, advancing health and well-being into old age and ensuring enabling and supportive environments.

The Nigerian delegate said the review showed that the demographics of older persons were quite significant in Africa and could not be ignored as it was growing at a rate of 0.9 per cent faster than the general population.

“We have 110 million older persons in Africa. And the speed and rates, the rates and pattern of growth are not the same for all the sub-regions.

“The northern and southern regions are growing at a faster pace. And then the central and the Western, moderate to new.

“However, the general population is growing and is expected to move from 6.6 per cent in1992 to 8.3 per cent. That’s quite huge.

“We are touting the African continent to be a youthful continent, which is true, the absolute numbers of older persons are increasing, along with the challenges.

“It is also growing along with the opportunities that are there to exploit for economic growth,” she said.

Secondly, Omokaro said some member states had taken the opportunity of MIPAA to develop their national policies on ageing.

She said some countries like Nigeria had gone beyond just developing a national policy on ageing but had a National Plan of Action on Ageing, which was the strategic roadmap on ageing.

“The added advantage that compels implementation of MIPA is the legislation and Nigeria has also done that.

“So, we found in the review that the member states in Africa that have made considerable progress and implementation of MIPAA are those that have national legislations.

“Also, we found out that those countries making progress are those that have established entities focusing on ageing and have developed coordination and partnerships with other Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDA),” she said.

Omokaro added that about one-third of African countries (18 countries) had developed comprehensive National Policies on Ageing, strategies and various programmes to implement the target priority areas of MIPAA.

NAN reports that MIPAA is the first international agreement which commits governments to link questions of ageing to other frameworks for social and economic development and human rights.

It also calls for governments to include older people in the policy development process.

Endorsed by 159 Member States, including Nigeria, the MIPAA is not legally binding and its implementation is voluntary.

A participatory review of the Plan is organised every five years, in which older people’s involvement is encouraged.