Mental Health of Black Women in Africa: An Intersectional Review of Structural, Cultural, and Community Mental Health Determinants

Mental health inequities among Black women in Africa remain insufficiently recognized despite growing global attention to community mental health and health equity. These inequities are shaped by intersecting structural, cultural, gendered, and socioeconomic factors. Guided by an Africentric Feminist Intersectionality (AFI) framework and employing a critical narrative review methodology, this paper examines how stigma, poverty, colonial legacies, gendered expectations, and under-resourced mental health systems shape mental health experiences and access to care among Black women in Africa. The review highlights the limitations of Western individualistic mental health frameworks in African contexts and emphasizes the importance of culturally grounded, community-based, and structurally informed approaches to care. It also examines the role of traditional and community-based healing systems as important sources of resilience and support. The review concludes that advancing mental health equity requires intersectionality-informed policies, culturally responsive services, and sustained investment in community mental health systems. These findings have broader relevance for Black communities in high-income countries, including Canada, where similar structural and cultural barriers continue to shape mental health experiences and access to care.