Can Mental Health Be Africa’s Next Frontier?
Discovering and discussing unconventional innovative solutions for taboo topics
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Twice a week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays, we serve content, stories and platforms that expose, inspire and support innovation across Africa. We are a community of innovators and we’re dedicated to educating, informing and supporting African Innovators; superheroes like you 🫵, who toil day and night to make our continent like a slice of heaven, through innovative solutions for the common man.
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Mental health has long been a silent crisis in Africa, but with significant implications for individuals and societies.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), mental disorders are among the leading causes of disability globally, and Africa is no exception. For instance, in Nigeria, one in four people are affected by some form of mental illness, yet less than 10% have access to mental health care.
Stats also show that in Nigeria, there are fewer than 1 psychiatrist per 100,000 people. The current landscape is marked by under-resourced healthcare systems and societal attitudes that often view mental health as a spiritual or moral issue rather than a medical one.
On the greener side however, the digital revolution is changing this narrative. Africa’s mobile penetration is soaring, with sub-Saharan Africa expected to have over 1 billion mobile connections this year, and smartphone connections nearly doubling since 2019. This high connectivity presents a unique opportunity to leverage tech for mental health solutions, especially in regions where traditional healthcare systems are strained.
A growing number of tech companies are stepping up to address this gap, using their tech solution to make mental health care more accessible, affordable, and culturally relevant.
There’s Blueroomcare, a proud member of the Consonance Community of Innovators. They are a Lagos-based mental health care solution provider, and are accessible from anywhere. There’s also Nguvu Health (Kenya), Clafiya (Nigeria), Ahkili (Tunisia) and a couple of others.
So far, they’ve all been doing amazing work in making mental health care more accessible, but what if there was more to do and even better ways to get to users who need these solutions? 🤔
Enter: Heal by Hair 💁✨
The Bluemind Foundation launched Heal by Hair in April 2022 in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, certifying 22 hairdressers from nearly 250 applicants as the first-ever mental-health ambassadors in salons.
In that inaugural Abidjan session, experienced psychiatrists and psychosocial experts ran interactive workshops—role plays, active-listening drills and referral-pathway mapping—designed to equip stylists with practical tools to spot and respond to early signs of distress.
See more on them here
Building on that success, April 2024 saw the first Togo edition in Lomé, training 30 local hairdressing professionals in “psychosocial first aid” and culturally adapted counselling techniques. Trainers emphasised the salon’s status as a trusted safe space—where gossip, folklore and friendship already flow freely—so that conversations about anxiety, depression or domestic abuse can emerge naturally between braids and blow-dries.
Since its launch, Heal by Hair has certified over 800 hairstylists across Côte d’Ivoire, Togo and Cameroon. These ambassadors have directly supported more than 54,000 women clients, by offering a confidential ear, simple coping strategies, and referrals to clinics when needed. In Ivory Coast alone, the programme selected participants from Abidjan’s diverse communes (Abobo, Cocody, Yopougon), ensuring both urban and peri-urban coverage.
Evidence of Impact
Early evaluations show that group peer-support and one-on-one micro-counselling in salons reduce self-reported depressive symptoms by an average of 45 % over three months. Moreover, clients trained to practise brief mindfulness or grounding exercises in the salon report a 30 % reduction in acute anxiety episodes within two weeks! 🤗
On the provider side, 90 % of trained stylists say their own mental-health literacy has improved significantly, with over 80 % feeling confident to refer serious cases onward to psychiatrists or NGOs. Importantly, the initiative also combats stigma: when stylists openly discuss mental health, they model vulnerability and normalize help-seeking in communities where such topics were once taboo.
Seeing as not everyone who needs mental health care solutions has access to a mobile phone, or even access to electricity to power said phone, reaching users through this is as unconventional as it gets.
It’s women’s hair salons today, in your area tomorrow, it could be barbing salons or newspaper stands for men. What do you think?
Will more people get help this way? Can Innovators in this sector figure out a way around this and more unconventional methods? Do you have a better view on this? 🤔
Be back here on Wednesday. It’ll be shame if you miss our next newsletter!😉