International Longevity Summit Africa: A New Frontier for Global Healthspan

When people think of longevity science, their minds often go to Silicon Valley start-ups, European research hubs, or the famous “Blue Zones”, like those in Japan and Costa Rica. Africa is rarely part of the picture. 

Yet one organization is changing that narrative—bringing longevity science to a continent with unmatched potential. 

From September 10-11, Afrolongevity, a non-profit under the umbrella of Transdisciplinary Agora for Future Discussions (TAFFD’s), hosted the fourth annual International Longevity Summit Africa (ILSA) in Durban, South Africa, at the beautiful Sibaya Hotel & Casino. 

The summit gathered scientists, clinicians, entrepreneurs, and policy leaders to place Africa firmly in the global conversation on healthspan. What emerged was a powerful demonstration that longevity—long associated with wealthier, aging populations in the Global North—is just as relevant to Africa’s present realities and future trajectory.

What Are TAFFD’s and AfroLongevity?

The Transdisciplinary Agora for Future Discussions (TAFFD’s) was founded by Ósìnàkáchì Ákùmà Kálù (better known as Osi) and Brenda Ramokopelwa as a platform to unite thinkers, innovators, and change-makers around the most pressing issues shaping humanity’s future. 

Within this vision, Afrolongevity was launched as a dedicated initiative to ensure Africa is not left behind in the science of aging and the pursuit of extended healthspan.

Afrolongevity has worked steadily to bring attention to the unique opportunities and challenges of aging on the continent. It has hosted annual summits since its inception, each one growing in scope, ambition, and international recognition. 

Rejuve.AI has been proud to be involved over the past several years, contributing to the conversation on how decentralized science and AI can accelerate discoveries in aging and empower African participation in global data and research networks.

I am honoured to serve on the advisory boards of both TAFFD’s and Afrolongevity, alongside respected colleagues such as Natasha Vita-More, Andrea Maier, Aubrey de Grey, and others who are working to reshape how the world understands aging—not only in Africa but through Africa’s lens.

Over just a few years, the ILSA has become the first and only recurring longevity summit on the continent. The 2025 theme, “Future-Proofing Health: Africa’s Role in the Global Longevity Revolution,” captured both the urgency of preparing African health systems for the rise of chronic disease and the opportunity to position Africa as a leader in global healthspan innovation. 

It also emphasized the growing role of health and medical tourism, recognizing Africa’s potential to attract global visitors seeking rejuvenation, advanced treatments, and holistic care. With the backing of Durban’s tourism authorities, longevity was framed not only as a scientific frontier but also as an emerging economic opportunity for the region.

Opportunities and Challenges for Africa in Longevity

Africa holds several global distinctions that make it an essential player in the future of longevity:

• Demographics: Africa is the world’s youngest continent, with a rapidly growing population that is still underrepresented in medical research.

• Genetic diversity: It is the most genetically diverse region on Earth, offering unparalleled insights into health, disease, and potential protective factors against aging.

• Cultural heritage: Traditional diets, rich in whole foods, and active lifestyles have historically protected communities from many of the chronic conditions now rising worldwide.

Yet modernization has introduced new risks. The replacement of whole, traditional foods with ultra-processed diets, combined with increasingly sedentary lifestyles, is driving a wedge into African healthspans. 

While international media often emphasizes infectious diseases like HIV or malaria, the more pressing health burden today comes from non-communicable conditions such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer.

Africa is often called the “youngest continent” because such a large share of the population is under 30. This is sometimes misunderstood to mean there are few older adults, but that is not the case. 

Many African families include elders who live into advanced ages, sometimes thriving well beyond global averages. The youth bulge exists primarily because fertility rates remain high, while elevated childhood mortality in some regions further skews demographic statistics. It is not that longevity is absent, but that the numbers do not fully capture it.

The challenge is that reliable data on long-lived Africans remains scarce. Stories of centenarians and super-agers abound, especially among those who adhered to traditional diets and active lifestyles, but these accounts are often anecdotal. 

Sparse or inconsistent records weaken our ability to validate and learn from these examples. Closing this data gap is essential, both for Africa’s own health planning and for enriching the global knowledge base on how humans can age well.

Beyond the Headlines: Africa’s Emerging Health Crisis

For decades, African health systems have reasonably focused on issues more related to younger demographics: infectious disease, maternal health, and child survival. International media, too, continues to frame the continent’s health narrative around HIV, malaria, tuberculosis, and other communicable diseases that still claim millions of lives each year. These remain a major burden.

At the same time, the roadmap for tackling most infectious diseases is well-established. Vaccines, treatments, and proven public health campaigns exist, and while bottlenecks remain, they are tied more to infrastructure, financing, and governance than to gaps in science.

What is less recognized is how this burden is now being compounded by the rapid rise of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, and Alzheimer’s. As life expectancy improves, chronic conditions are emerging as a major crisis. This shift mirrors global trends, but with the added urgency of acting before these diseases fully dominate African health systems. 

Unlike communicable diseases, which can often be addressed with targeted interventions, preventing NCDs requires broad, society-wide change in how people eat, move, and live. 

The result is a dual challenge: infectious diseases that still strain health systems, combined with chronic illnesses that are steadily growing as populations age. Together, they threaten to overwhelm already stretched capacity if not addressed proactively.

This is why longevity science becomes so relevant for Africa. It provides a framework for tackling aging as the underlying risk factor, and for designing interventions that strengthen resilience and prevent decline before it begins. The broader lesson is clear: Africa cannot rely indefinitely on imported solutions. 

To future-proof health, the continent must invest in its own research capacity, genomic studies, preventative care systems, and health data infrastructure. By building from within, Africa can strengthen its resilience and step forward as a leader in the global longevity revolution, offering lessons the rest of the world will need.

Highlights from the Summit

The International Longevity Summit Africa brought these challenges into sharp focus while also showcasing the opportunities for Africa to lead.

Over two days in Durban, the program highlighted the role of local universities, the promise of medical tourism, the importance of cultural and spiritual traditions, and the need for stronger data on long-lived Africans. Together, these threads wove a picture of a continent ready to claim its place in the global longevity movement.

The headline sponsor, Mangosuthu University of Technology (MUT), underscored academia’s critical role in driving progress. As one of South Africa’s leading science and technology hubs, MUT’s support signaled how local institutions are stepping forward to lead. I also had the chance to appear on one of their radio programs, where we discussed the promise of longevity research and the importance of broad public engagement.

The remarkable setting in Durban also tied directly into one of the most striking themes of the summit: the idea of longevity as an engine for medical and wellness tourism. Health tourism is often associated with elective surgeries or low-cost procedures abroad.

ILSA suggested something more ambitious: a future where Africa’s natural assets, cultural practices, and emerging science converge to create a destination for healthy aging. 

Imagine retreats where cutting-edge diagnostics are combined with traditional diets and spiritual healing practices, backed by modern clinical expertise.

This vision reframes longevity not only as a scientific goal but as an economic driver with the potential to attract global partnerships and investment.

The theme of traditional medicine and spirituality was also ever-present. At one point, during the Q&A following my keynote, a delegate asked (in far more eloquent words): “What about the spiritual elements of health?” It was a reminder that for many Africans, spirituality is inseparable from wellness. Traditional healers remain central figures in communities, though their role is often stigmatized in modern medicine. 

At ILSA, there was strong recognition of the need to bridge the gap. Traditional practices carry knowledge about food, herbs, and community health that deserves to be documented, tested, and, where appropriate, integrated with biomedical science. Such partnerships are key to building trust and unlocking holistic approaches to longevity.

Linked to this is the need for better data and documentation. Without verifiable data on the aforementioned African centenarians and healthy agers, valuable insights risk being lost. Afrolongevity is actively pushing for this kind of collaboration and record-building as part of its mission.

Finally, the cultural and symbolic weight of the event was felt through the presence of the Royal KwaZulu family. Their participation added a sense of continuity between tradition and the future, underscoring that longevity is not only a medical and economic issue but also one of culture, heritage, and identity.

My Contribution and Reflections from Durban

The summit opened with a press conference, where I joined representatives from local media and fellow speakers to set the stage for two days of conversation. It was encouraging to see such strong engagement from South African journalists and broadcasters—an early sign that longevity is being recognized not just as a niche scientific topic, but as a public issue with wide social relevance.

On Day 2, I had the privilege of giving a keynote on “Democratizing Longevity: Africa’s Opportunity in the Age of Decentralized Science & Artificial Intelligence.” My message was that Africa does not need to follow the same slow path other regions took. By embracing decentralized science, AI-driven research, and inclusive data collection, the continent can leapfrog into the longevity future.

This means enabling communities to gather and share health, aging, and lifestyle data in ways that respect privacy and ownership. It means applying AI to link together genomics, epidemiology, and cultural practices so African populations are fully represented in global studies. And it means ensuring the benefits of longevity science extend to everyone, not only the wealthiest nations. 

Through initiatives like the International Longevity Research Database (IRLDB), this vision is already taking shape. Encouragingly, Nigeria is now among the top ten countries for adoption of the Rejuve Longevity App, showing how ready Africans are to contribute to and benefit from this movement.

Durban itself gave added weight to the experience. The city is stunning—the Indian Ocean at its edge, vibrant energy in its streets—but its history is also sobering. During the summit, I visited a museum chronicling South Africa’s struggle against apartheid and colonization.

Walking through the exhibits, I was reminded of both suffering and resilience, of how health inequities are inseparable from history, and of how communities persist and innovate despite injustice. It made the fact that Durban now hosts a global longevity summit all the more meaningful.

Durban reminded me that longevity is not just about numbers or years lived, but about the richness of experience. It is about people having the opportunity to live fully—with dignity, vitality, and connection to culture and community. Those values came through in every conversation at the summit, and they are values Africa can bring powerfully to the global longevity movement

Forward Looking: What Needs to Happen

If the International Longevity Summit Africa made anything clear, it is that the work ahead is both urgent and full of possibility. Several priorities stand out.

Africa needs more organized, well-funded genomic studies of older and longest-lived individuals. Understanding protective factors—whether genetic or environmental—could yield discoveries of global significance. 

Strengthening data infrastructure and record keeping is equally vital: reliable birth and death registries, validated age claims, and long-term biomarker tracking will allow anecdotes about long-lived elders to become evidence that can inform science.

There is also a need for integrative health models that bridge traditional medicine, modern biomedicine, and public health. Respecting culture, spirituality, diet, movement, and ecology alongside clinical science will build trust and deliver more holistic approaches to care. Policy and funding must catch up with these realities. Aging and healthspan deserve the same priority once given to infectious disease, with systems adapting to chronic disease management, prevention, and healthy lifestyle promotion. 

Finally, Africa’s youth must be part of the solution. Given the continent’s demographics, engaging young people in designing technologies, awareness campaigns, and lifestyle innovations is critical. Healthy habits formed early ripple forward into later life.

This is also where digital health, decentralized science (DeSci), and AI come in. These tools give Africa the ability to leapfrog traditional barriers, connect fragmented datasets, and ensure its people are represented in global research. Platforms like the International Longevity Research Database (IRLDB) and the growing adoption of the Rejuve Longevity App in countries like Nigeria show how community-driven data collection, combined with AI analysis, can accelerate discoveries while respecting privacy and ownership.

Looking ahead, the International Longevity Summit Africa is more than a conference—it is part of a movement to position Africa as a vital contributor to humanity’s shared quest for longer, healthier lives. With its demographics, genetic richness, cultural depth, and rapidly growing scientific capacity, the continent is poised not only to catch up but to lead in defining what longevity looks like in the 21st century.

Africa is not simply a place to study disease. It is a source of knowledge about resilience, long life, and healthy aging. The same chronic conditions rising elsewhere are already emerging here—and so are the solutions. By combining genetic diversity, tradition, youth, culture, and science with the power of AI and decentralized digital health, Africa can help make longevity research broader, fairer, and richer.

Because the future of global aging should not be written without Africa in the room. Done well, Africa will not only take its seat at the table but help lead it. The future of Africa is bright.