By 2050, an estimated 80 million people in Africa could be living with dementia—a fourfold rise since 2015—prompting urgent calls for governments to treat brain health as a strategic economic priority. The Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative (DAC) issued this appeal during a gathering in Johannesburg ahead of the G20 Health Ministers’ meeting in South Africa.
George Vradenburg, founder and board chair of DAC, emphasized that Africa’s relatively young population offers a unique window to prevent widespread cognitive decline. “Much of Alzheimer’s prevention lies in lifelong brain care,” he stated at the event, co-hosted by the Science for Africa (SFA) Foundation.
Experts highlighted early childhood as a crucial phase for neurological development. Mireille Wenger, Western Cape’s Provincial Minister of Health and Wellness, noted that brain architecture forms prenatally and is shaped decisively in the first 1,000 days after birth. “Nutrition, emotional support, safety, and mental stimulation during infancy lay the foundation for future learning, psychological strength, social engagement, and career prospects,” she explained.
Dr. Holly Baines of Wellcome Leap added that adolescence is another pivotal stage for brain maturation. Emerging research also suggests that Alzheimer’s may originate in midlife, particularly linked to women’s health. “The brain has phases when it’s especially responsive to external influences and interventions. Identifying these periods is vital,” Baines said, though she acknowledged that the precise timing for optimal intervention remains unclear.
The meeting introduced Africa’s inaugural Brain Health Plan, a five-year framework developed by 25 academics and 28 institutions. It outlines objectives across six domains: advocacy, building a brain-centered economy, leveraging data and digital technologies, reallocating existing resources, integrating fragmented systems, and securing sustainable funding.
With around 60% of Africa’s population under 25, and half of all new global workers expected to come from sub-Saharan Africa by 2030, Vradenburg stressed that economic competitiveness hinges on cognitive well-being. “Africa’s innovation capacity and workforce output depend on the mental capabilities of its people—creativity, problem-solving, imagination—all essential in today’s job landscape,” he said.
Kana Enomoto of the McKinsey Health Institute projected that scaling up brain health initiatives could contribute $6.2 trillion annually to global GDP by 2050, primarily through increased productivity and labor participation. In contrast, the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation reported that in 2019 alone, Africa spent approximately $10 billion on direct care for 24 neurological conditions.
Vradenburg criticized the imbalance in investment: “Billions go into artificial intelligence, yet minimal funding supports human brain health. We urge G20 nations to prioritize biological intelligence with the same urgency as technological intelligence.”
Demographic shifts are accelerating. Professor Mohamed Salama of the American University in Cairo warned that Africa’s age structure is transforming. “By 2050, the number of older adults will triple—from about 50 million to 150 million. This will strain healthcare, economies, and governance systems.”
Wenger echoed the need for early planning: “Healthy ageing shouldn’t start at retirement. It begins with prevention, early nutrition, timely diagnosis, and lifelong support systems.”
Digital tools offer promise. Chatbots in local African languages have been piloted in Tunisia—where only one Alzheimer’s treatment center serves the entire nation—helping patients and reducing travel burdens. AI may also improve early detection of cognitive impairments.
Tom Kariuki, CEO of SFA Foundation, described brain health as a cornerstone of socioeconomic progress. “It determines how Africa innovates, competes, and prospers,” he said. Claudio Bassetti of the European Brain Council noted that few countries prioritize prevention; Switzerland, for example, allocates just 2% of its health budget to preventive measures despite high dementia-related nursing costs.
Looking ahead, DAC aims to shift focus from awareness to action—transforming brain health into “brain capital” and building an economy centered on human cognitive potential rather than relying solely on automation.
— news from Health Policy Watch
\n\n— News Original —\nMaking ‘Brain Health’ An Economic Investment\n\nSome 80 million Africans are projected to have dementia by 2050 – a fourfold increase from 2015 – and governments need to invest in brain health as an “economic imperative” to mitigate this. \n\nThis call was made by the Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative (DAC) at a meeting in Johannesburg on Tuesday, on the eve of the G20 Health Ministers meeting in South Africa. \n\nDAC founder and board chair George Vradenburg told the meeting that it is precisely because the African population “skews young, not old” that the continent has the opportunity to prevent cognitive decline. \n\n“Preventing Alzheimer’s, in significant part, can be achieved by taking care of the brain during the course of your life,” Vradenburg told the meeting, which was co-hosted by the Science for Africa (SFA) Foundation. \n\nKey interventions from experts during the course of the day-long meeting highlighted the importance of nutrition – particularly during the first 1,000 days of a baby’s life – in enhancing brain health. \n\n“The science is clear. Brain development begins in the womb, and the first 1,000 days of life shape the architecture of the brain,” said Mireille Wenger, Provincial Minister of Health and Wellness in the Western Cape province. \n\n“Nutrition, stimulation, safety, love and support in those early months and years determine learning potential, mental resilience, social participation and economic opportunity later in life.” \n\nWellcome Leap’s Dr Holly Baines added that “adolescence is another critical period in terms of brain development” and emerging research actually indicates that Alzheimer’s disease might actually be a condition starting in midlife in relation to women’s health”. \n\n“The brain undergoes these distinct critical periods, and so it’s really important for us to think about when the brain is particularly sensitive, but also malleable, to different environmental factors and interventions,” said Baines. \n\nHowever, she added that scientists still don’t understand “the critical intervention windows”. \n\nThe meeting launched Africa’s first-ever Brain Health Plan for Africa, a five-year roadmap to investing in African “brain capital” developed by 25 academics and 28 institutions. \n\nIt sets clear goals across six strategic areas, covering advocacy, the “brain economy”, harnessing data,digital and AI solutions, repurposing resources, breaking down silos and funding. \n\nEconomic dividends \n\nAround 60% of the continent’s population is under the age of 25, and by 2030, half of all new workers in the world will come from sub-Saharan Africa, said Vradenburg. \n\n“To harness the potential economic and innovative potential of those workers, we must invest in their brain health – the ‘brain capital’ of Africa is dependent on the skills of creativity, problem-solving ability, and imagination so badly needed in the 21st-century job market. African competitiveness and workforce productivity are dependent on the brains of its people,” he noted. \n\nScaling up known interventions to address brain health conditions could add $6.2 trillion, around 3% to the global GDP, each year by 2050 – mostly by improving productivity and labour force participation, according to Kana Enomoto, director of brain health at the McKinsey Health Institute. \n\nIn contrast, a modelling study by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington, found that in 2019, Africans had spent about $10 billion on direct health services related to 24 brain disorders, said IHME’s Dr Angela Apeagyei. \n\n“Millions are being spent on the development of AI, yet very little is being invested in brain health,” said Vradenburg. “The argument that we are making to the G20 governments is: invest in human intelligence with the same sense of urgency and pace that you’re investing in artificial intelligence.” \n\nShifting demographics \n\nWhile Africa has a young population, this is shifting, warned Prof Mohamed Salama from the American University in Cairo’s Institute of Global Health and Human Ecology. \n\n“The demographic pyramid is not going to be a pyramid by 2050, as the number of older adults is going to triple. Rather than having around 47 to 50 million older adults, we would reach 150 million,” said Salama. \n\n“This stark increase will pose different challenges to the healthcare system, economy, politics, everything, and we need to be prepared.” \n\nWenger agreed, saying that the demographics in South Africa were already changing, and her province was ageing the fastest: “Planning for healthy ageing cannot begin at retirement age. It must begin much earlier with prevention, early development, nutrition; with early diagnoses, social connection and systems designed to support people throughout their lifespan.” \n\nHarnessing digital solutions \n\nWhile governments are investing an outsized amount in AI, several digital and AI tools do have the potential to help Africa. \n\nSpeakers told the meeting that chatbots speaking in various African languages could assist with the care of people with dementia. This had been piloted in Tunisia, which has only one Alzheimer’s treatment centre for the entire country, and it had both assisted people and reduced their need to travel to the centre. \n\nAI and digital tools can also expand the early detection of cognitive problems. \n\nTom Kariuki, CEO of the SFA Foundation, described brain health as “an economic and social investment that will determine how well Africa competes, innovates, and thrives”. \n\n“Investing in brain health is investing in innovation, productivity, and resilience, the very foundations of our continent’s long-term growth,” said Kariuki. \n\nProfessor Claudio Bassetti, vice-president of the European Brain Council, said he was not aware of any country in the world that is investing significantly in the prevention of dementia and other brain disorders. \n\n“My country [Switzerland] is investing 2% of the entire health budget in prevention, although, for example, 80% of the cost for dementia goes into nursing homes,” said Bassetti, who chairs the Lancet Commission on Brain Health. \n\nVradenburg said that next year, DAC aims to “get practical” about what needs to change, moving from “brain health into brain capital, the brain economy”. \n\nDAC is trying to figure out how to address both demographics, with older populations that are going to be sicker and incur “unsustainable health costs around the world” and “artificial intelligence, which basically threatens to eliminate 90% of our jobs, which will destroy humanity”. \n\n“We have got to figure out how to take this moment and turn it into a human brain positive economy, not just an artificial brain economy.” \n\nImage Credits: DAC. \n\nCombat the infodemic in health information and support health policy reporting from the global South. 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