Nigeria has been ranked the second country in Africa with the best mental well-being, edging Zimbabwe, while Tanzania secured the highest point.
This was disclosed in the fourth annual “Mental State of the World” study of the Global Mind Project, which was carried out by Sapien Labs in March 2024. The report also implies a global decline in mental health since the pandemic’s start.
The study is released at a time when Nigeria is grappling with economic difficulties brought on, among other things, by the country’s high cost of living and President Bola Tinubu’s elimination of fuel subsidies and unification of exchange rate windows in his inaugural speech on May 29, 2023.
500,000 responses were gathered from the north over the course of the year in 71 countries, spanning 9 geographical regions, including Africa, according to Sapien Labs.
The six-layered scores used in the study are for social self-drive and inspiration, versatility and strength, temperament and viewpoint, cognizance, and brain-body connection.
However, Sapien Labs maintained that “this Global Mind project aligns with the World Health Organization (WHO) definition of mental wellbeing which is broadly the ability of an individual to handle the normal stresses and adversities of life and contribute productively to society.
The project therefore does not inform on traditional views of happiness or life satisfaction but rather provides a more comprehensive and economically relevant perspective across the breadth of emotional, social and cognitive capabilities.
According to the document, since 2021, mental health has stayed mostly unchanged globally. Many Latin American and African nations top the list, while the majority of the Anglosphere is ranked in the lowest quartile.
Below are the 10 countries in Africa with best ranked mental well-being, alongside their MHQ, according to the ‘Mental State of the World’ report:
1 Tanzania 88
2 Nigeria 83
3 Zimbabwe 74
4 Kenya 72
5 Democratic Republic of the Congo 71
6 Mozambique 70
7 Cote D’Ivoire 69
8 Cameroon 67
9 Tunisia 67
10 Angola 64
