For millions of older Africans, dignity in later life has too often stayed a promise on paper. A new continental gathering aims to change that. The inaugural Africa Ageing Conference will be held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in October 2027, and its organisers hope it will become the place where commitments made to older people finally turn into visible change in their daily lives.
The announcement came as leaders, policymakers, civil society organisations, researchers, private sector representatives and advocates gathered in Hangzhou, China, at the end of October for the 2026 Asia-Pacific Regional Conference on Population Ageing, a major regional forum co-hosted by HelpAge International, UNFPA and the China National Committee on Ageing. Full details of the new African platform are available at https://www.helpage.org/news/from-hangzhou-to-addis-ababa-africa-ageing-conference-2027-announced/.
The people who will feel the weight of these decisions most are Africa’s older citizens, and their numbers are growing fast. The continent remains the world’s youngest, but that picture is shifting rapidly. The number of older people in Africa is expected to rise from around 75 million today to more than 220 million by 2050. In Asia and the Pacific, by contrast, more than 722 million people are already aged 60 and over. Those two realities, at very different stages of demographic change, sat at the heart of an Africa-Asia South-South dialogue held during the Hangzhou conference, organised by the African Union Commission, UNFPA and HelpAge International.
For older people and the communities they live in, the question raised in that dialogue was a practical one: how can Africa translate its strong continental commitments into meaningful change in people’s lives? Her Excellency Ambassador Amma A. Twum-Amoah, African Union Commissioner for Health, Humanitarian Affairs and Social Development, opened the discussion by placing political leadership at the centre of the continent’s response. Her intervention underlined why Africa’s exchange with Asia matters, what African countries bring to that partnership, and why the dialogue must lead to sustained cooperation and practical action. That political commitment, organisers argue, will be essential to securing greater government investment in ageing and longevity, and to turning the African Union Protocol on the Rights of Older Persons into real change across countries and communities.
Dr Olubusayo Ruth Akinola, Head of the Social Welfare, Drug Control and Crime Prevention Division at the African Union Commission, joined the dialogue as its lead respondent. The conversation focused on the rapid growth of Africa’s older population, asking what countries should prioritise now and what other regions can learn from Africa’s collective political commitment to older people’s rights. The Protocol offers a continental foundation for protecting those rights. The harder work, participants acknowledged, lies in implementation and accountability across countries and communities.
Meanwhile, the Hangzhou dialogue did not stop at naming challenges. Speakers examined practical experience from both continents, including Kenya’s Older Persons Cash Transfer Programme for people aged 70 and over, Vietnam’s expansion of Intergenerational Self-Help Clubs, and China’s development of home and community-based care and long-term care insurance. For families caring for ageing relatives, and for older people themselves, these are the kinds of programmes that decide whether longer lives bring security or hardship. Organisers stressed that this reciprocal learning is central to the emerging Africa ageing agenda: not simply importing solutions from elsewhere, but understanding what works, adapting it to local contexts, and recognising the knowledge and innovation African countries themselves bring to the global conversation.
The 2027 conference, convened by the African Union Commission and HelpAge International and co-hosted by the Government of Ethiopia, UNFPA, the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA), will bring together leaders and changemakers from across Africa and beyond. It is being established as Africa’s flagship platform on ageing, longevity and demographic change, with a focus on turning collaboration and learning into practical action.
Four interconnected themes will shape the programme: population intelligence and evidence; healthy ageing and care; social protection and inclusive economies; and climate resilience and humanitarian action. Together, they reflect a broader ambition to ensure population ageing is understood as a central development priority, connected to health systems, economies, social protection, climate resilience, rights and national planning.
For the older people, families and communities the conference is meant to serve, the hope is straightforward: that African countries use the window they still have to prepare, investing in the policies, institutions and systems needed so longer lives bring greater dignity, security, health and participation. The conference will also create a continental platform to strengthen leadership and systems, share evidence and solutions, and ensure older people and their organisations help shape the decisions affecting their lives.
Exact dates and further programme information will be announced in due course. Those interested in following the journey to Addis Ababa can register to receive updates and hear about opportunities to get involved, and the open question now is whether the commitments voiced in Hangzhou will hold until 2027.