Cynthia Kodowu, a Ghanaian human resources specialist, told DW that she gives her workers some stark words of advice about protecting their mental health in the workplace.

"I say to my staff and to all other people that the money you're chasing, for which reason you don't want to take that break? If you do exit today, it's not going to be paid to you in the cemetery in any case," she says.

Her warning is backed by worrying statistics about the state of people's mental health across Africa.

Figures from the World Health Organization (WHO) suggest that its Africa region has one of the world's highest suicide rates. In 2019, this was measured at 11.2 per 100,000 population, compared to the global average of 9 per 100,000.

The WHO African region male suicide rate is the highest of all WHO regions at 18 per 100,000 population — compared to the global average of 12.4 per 100,000.

Some 77% of suicides occurred in low- and middle-income countries, with suicide rates in Lesotho, Eswatini, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Mozambique, Central African Republic, Botswana, Eritrea, Cameroon, and........

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