It was only at college that Hiwot Daniel realized she had been lonely as a child.

Her father died when she was 2 years old, leaving her mother busy meeting basic needs. Growing up as an only child, no one asked Daniel questions like, "How was your day? What are you planning after school? Is there anything troubling you?"

"There was no emotional support. I'm so thankful to my relatives because it was with their support that I got an education," said Daniel. "[But] they focused more on financial support than on emotional support. They would say, 'What do you mean by loneliness? Why are you saying lonely? We're here with you. But that's not how I wanted to share my experience with them."

Now 22 and studying psychology and pharmacology in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, Daniel told DW her childhood made her resilient and the person she is today. But back then, she said she felt sad and lonely.

High prevalence of loneliness in African countries

The evidence that loneliness is a serious and widespread issue among African youth has been building over the past few years.

In 2023, Gallup, an opinion research institute, teamed up with Facebook's parent company, Meta, to run a global survey on social connection. They interviewed about 1,000 people in each of 142 countries. And they found that among the 29 countries with the highest prevalence of loneliness, 22 countries were in Africa.

"This is not just a North American, European or a wealthy nation issue. Loneliness is a global issue," said Julianne Holt-Lunstad, an academic adviser on the study. "And it doesn't seem to be less important in Africa, where the presumption is that other issues [such as poverty] might be more important."

Now, in 2025, a report by the World Health Organization said that people in poorer countries were especially vulnerable to loneliness, and that young people were the worst affected.

What's causing youth loneliness in Africa?

There are many possible reasons for loneliness. It needn't be a pathological condition, but it can become one, or at least a long-term problem for young people who feel they're stuck and can't get out.

For Hiwot Daniel, it has been hard to build deep connections at university. "We all come from different backgrounds, different cultures, different languages. That makes it hard to understand each other," she said.

Social media and other digital technology also play a role in youth loneliness in Africa, as they do in other continents. But the situation varies from country to country in Africa.

One aspect seems to be universal: the ways in which urbanization has changed family structures in Africa. 

"We used to live in a communal way," said Amani Masaule, a youth mental health advocate from Tanzania. "But urbanization and digitalization are forcing us to live in individualistic ways."

In some cases, that has meant ties to family and friends have grown weaker. People move away, start new families in the cities where they work and they have less time for their families back home.

"Everyone's running to work, the world's moving at 100 miles-an-hour, you've got to do everything at once," said psychiatrist Sonia Kanekatoua of Togo. "The quality of family life that used to exist [disappears]."

Then, there are those young people who are out of work.

"Poverty and unemployment also contribute to loneliness. Many youths in Africa face the challenge of unemployment," said Masaule. "They have nothing to do, so they find themselves isolating from others."

Stigma and superstition around loneliness in Africa

Mental health is a taboo in many African countries and "hampered by a lot of ignorance," said Jibril Abdulmalik, a Nigerian psychiatrist. "People think it's a strange disease, a spiritual attack, or something demonic. Nobody wants to admit that a family member has a mental illness."

There have been cases of individuals being locked away by relatives, who want to protect the family reputation, said Abdulmalik.

For young men, the stigma can be even worse than for women, said youth advocate Masaule: "Especially for men, it is seen as a weakness to express your feelings. Some isolate themselves until [their loneliness] reaches a point where they commit suicide."

Solutions for loneliness: Strengthen family structures, mentoring

As many African countries lack the resources to provide sufficient mental health care at a public level, some experts told DW that African communities should try to strengthen family structures again.

"We have to appreciate that our strong family cohesion is a strength that we should not throw away," said Abdulmalik.  "We have to strengthen the family and parents. Young parents need to be very intentional about creating time for their children. You can't have children and then you outsource the parenting to the housekeeper or to schoolteachers."

And that may mean reviving some traditional ways. "By fitting into this global mold, we have lost a lot of things," said Kanekatoua.

But loneliness is complex and highly individualistic, because it is often connected with the very way an individual sees themselves in the world. 

Daniel took a step away from her community, got an education and found a way to understand and describe her mental health and emotional situation.

But she thinks help needs to come earlier in people's lives, before they even get to university.

"Mentorship activities, not only in university, but also in high schools," said Daniel. "I could mentor a young girl like someone in grade 12 who is about to join university, having mentors could help to fight loneliness."

Edited by: Zulfikar Abbany

If you are suffering from serious emotional strain or suicidal thoughts, do not hesitate to seek professional help. You can find information on where to find such help, no matter where you live in the world, at this website: https://befrienders.org