Welcome to AfricArXiv
This initiative showcases UbuntuNet's commitment to fostering knowledge sharing, collaboration, and accessibility within the African research community. With AfricArxiv, researchers across the continent have a dedicated platform to disseminate their findings, making them accessible to a global audience. By facilitating open access to scholarly work, UbuntuNet Alliance plays a pivotal role in advancing the principles of open science, enhancing research visibility, and driving innovation across Africa.
Communities in AfricArXiv
Select a community to browse its collections.
- The general repository is open for individual submissions by researchers, librarians and research administrators.
- Showcase of project activities, presentations, and scholarly contributions curated by the AfricArXiv initiative.
- Scholarly items sorted by country > Institution > Department
- A Rapid Grant Fund to address research questions and implement science engagement activities associated with COVID-19
Recent Submissions
How do discrete optimization models (MST, Steiner Tree, Max-Flow/Min-Cut, MILP) scale in cost, coverage, and runtime for rural electrification networks of different sizes?
(Kwadwo Amoah Asumadu, 2025-11-15) Kwadwo Amoah Asumadu
This study investigates the performance, scalability, and practicality of four network design models—Minimum Spanning Tree (MST), Steiner Tree, Max-Flow/Min-Cut (MFMC), and Mixed-Integer Linear Programming (MILP)—for rural electrification planning in an African context. Using simulated village networks of varying sizes, the work evaluates each model based on computational efficiency, total connection cost, coverage, and robustness. Results show that MST consistently delivers low-cost, fully connected solutions at exceptional speeds, making it suitable for large-scale deployments. The Steiner Tree model achieves marginally lower costs but at the expense of significant computational overhead and instability for large networks. MFMC performs well for flow-related constraints but struggles to provide complete network structures. MILP offers globally optimal solutions on large instances but becomes computationally intractable as network size decreases. Overall, the findings highlight the trade-offs between optimality and scalability, providing a framework to guide infrastructure planners in selecting appropriate algorithms for electrification projects across developing regions.
Seismic Activation Model Reconciliation (submitted to KeAI Earthquake Science)
(2025-11-15) Brox, Daniel
A strain energy diffusion model is presented as a means of reconciling different seismic moment time scaling relations presented by previous seismic activation models. Using similarity solutions to the 1D modified porous medium equation, anomalous diffusion of strain energy along the mainshock fault is demonstrated to increase strain energy density at the mainshock hypocenter while decreasing strain energy density elsewhere until mainshock rupture occurs.
π and Delocalized Electrons: A Quantum-Chemical Reassessment of Coherence, Stability, and Molecular Structure
(Publisher, 2025-11-14) Barack Ndenga
This article revisits the pivotal role of the mathematical constant π within the quantum-chemical framework describing delocalized electronic systems. Moving beyond its classical geometric interpretation, π is identified as a fundamental structural invariant intrinsic to the quantization, symmetry properties, and stability criteria of extended conjugated and aromatic molecules. By critically examining canonical theoretical constructs—including Hückel molecular orbital theory, analytical solutions to the particle-in-a-ring model, electron density distributions, and quantum spectral transitions—this work elucidates how π underpins key quantum mechanical boundary conditions, normalization protocols, and phase coherence phenomena essential for electronic delocalization. The analysis reveals that π governs the delicate balance between electronic wavefunction symmetry and energetic stabilization, thereby shaping aromaticity patterns and conjugation effects at a foundational quantum level. This comprehensive perspective advances a unifying conceptual framework positioning π as a universal quantum signature, thereby opening avenues for novel interpretations and extensions in molecular electronic structure theory and aromaticity research
The Black British Racial Trauma Questionnaire (BBRTQ): A Culturally Grounded Framework for Assessing Racial Trauma Among Black People in the UK
(2025-11-14) Delroy Constantine-Simms
Racial trauma remains under-assessed in UK mental health practice, particularly among Black British individuals facing systemic, interpersonal, and historical racism. Standard diagnostic tools—such as the PCL-5, DASS-21, and ACE Questionnaire—fail to recognise racism as a distinct trauma source. U.S.-centric instruments like the RBTSSS and UnRESTS offer targeted assessments but lack cultural relevance in British contexts. This study introduces the Black British Racial Trauma Questionnaire (BBRTQ), a 60-item instrument designed to assess racialised distress within UK-specific institutional and historical frameworks. Forty-five Black British adults (aged 18–55) completed the BBRTQ online. Items were rated on a 5-point Likert scale, developed through qualitative interviews and expert review. Grounded in Helms’ racial identity theory, DeGruy’s post-traumatic slave syndrome, and Fricker’s epistemic injustice framework, exploratory factor analysis revealed a six-factor structure: Emotional Impact, Identity Conflict, Intergenerational Transmission, Systemic Exclusion, Resilience, and Survival Stress. These accounted for 71.2% of variance, with subscale reliability ranging from α = .84 to .91. Scoring yields a Total Trauma Index (TTI) and a Resilience Score, interpreted independently to distinguish trauma burden from culturally grounded coping. Their negative correlation (r = –.42, p < .001) supports the BBRTQ’s non-pathologising design. The BBRTQ demonstrates strong cultural specificity and psychometric robustness, supporting trauma-informed care and systemic reform in UK mental health services
Afroglobal History of Siyasa in the Central Sudan During the 19th Century
(Bibliothekserver Universität Leipzig, 2025-11-13) Duymus, Kerem
The Afroglobal history of siyasa in the Central Sudan during the 19 the century provides a very concrete and living picture of another global history that was created, transformed, and/or adjusted by the Central Sudanic actors. That was a globality with its own epistemology and actors, with its own visions and aspirations, with its own ambivalences and achievements. The century commenced with overarching radical reforms in the system of governance, being the first meaning of siyasa. In the south, the ambitious jihadist movement of the Sokoto Fodiwa elites, who sought to establish a riasa system, intersected with the tadbir reforms of al-Amin al-Kanemi in Bornu and Abdulkadir Sabun in Wadai. In the north, Yusuf paşa was preoccupied with a similar tadbir reform, soon intersecting with the tadbir reforms of the Ottoman Empire. A notable attribute of these reform movements was their decentralized yet interconnected nature. The actors involved in these reforms were driven by distinct agendas and motivations to implement change. The latter half of the nineteenth century witnessed a change in the focal point of discourse, with the core debates shifting from the system of governance to political and economic affairs, representing the secondary aspect of siyasa. In the Central Sudan, the legacy of tadbir prevailed, with a few notable exceptions such as the sultanate of Air and the western region of the Uthmaniyya Caliphate, which retained their idara system. This legacy led to an unparalleled expansion. This globality was so profoundly and systematically dismantled and destroyed that it is very hard for many to imagine its existence today. Still, this history offers invaluable insights that persist in guiding contemporary thought.