By Janet Nyamwamu
Across Africa, conversations about men’s mental health are finally taking centre stage.
This year’s Men’s Wellness Summit 2025, hosted by ArvoCap Asset Managers in Nairobi, brought together leading voices to confront the pressures weighing on today’s African man.
The one-day forum cut across mental, physical, and financial wellness, offering a rare safe space for men to share struggles, victories, and the heavy price of ambition in a society that demands much but gives little room for vulnerability.
The lineup included keynote speaker Dr. Julius Kipng’etich, CEO of Jubilee Holdings Ltd and moderator Philip Karanja, acclaimed director and producer.
The panel featured legal heavyweight Danstan Omari, corporate leaders Khilán Shah and Bhavesh Shah, Kenya Airways CPO Tom Shivo, clinical psychologist Nancy Kihara, wellness advocate Eddy Kimani, holistic health champion Dr. Reza Naheed, and CEO Steve Wasiiwa, among others.
This year’s theme—“The Cost of the Hustle” and “Reinvention After Failure”—struck at the heart of cultural expectations. Panellists spoke candidly about failed marriages, collapsing businesses, addiction, and the silent exhaustion many men endure.
Advocate Omari captured the generational shift, warning that today’s man is trapped between outdated expectations and a rapidly changing society: “The modern man is operating under new pressures—emotional trailing of partners, public scrutiny, and economic shocks. Men are succeeding professionally but losing internally.”
His words echoed a continent-wide crisis: rising suicides, substance abuse, and the relentless demand to provide in unstable economies.
Clinical psychologist Nancy Kihara explained how boys are conditioned to suppress emotion: “From a young age, boys are told not to feel. Over time, the emotional part of the brain becomes underused. When these bottled feelings finally explode, the result is violence, depression, or withdrawal.”
She urged men to seek safe spaces, rethink masculinity, and unlearn harmful generational expectations.
Business leader Khilán Shah traced the downfall of many ambitious men to three markers: emotional imbalance, loss of discipline, and compromise of integrity.
“You lose emotional stability first, then discipline, and finally integrity. And by the time integrity goes, your reputation goes with it,” he said.
His warning resonated with attendees who admitted corporate structures demand performance but rarely acknowledge emotional strain.
Investor Bhavesh Shah challenged the obsession with wealth accumulation, confessing that much of male ambition is driven by a desire to be seen rather than fulfilled.
“We chase milestones. But after reaching them, we realize they don’t fill the void. And the question is—what is your purpose?”
The day blended serious talk with camaraderie—meat platters, giveaways from partners including Kenya Airways, Denri, and EABL, and a grand prize: a fully-loaded KES 100,000 investment account courtesy of ArvoCap.
CEO Monica Wanjiku said the summit is part of a broader mission to support men in a continent where they are often expected to “carry on” silently.
Moderator Philip Karanja closed with a challenge that became the rallying cry of the day: “Before we leave here, we must define the modern African man. We cannot use outdated definitions for men living in a new world.”
The conversations revealed a man seeking balance, unlearning harmful norms, and searching for identity in a fast-changing society.
