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
Building a National Open Access Repository: The MAREN Experience
(2026-04-02) Kumwenda, Jones
This presentation was made as part of the AfricArXiv Open Science Webinar Series. It discusses on MARENs journey in building the Malawi national repository. Specifically the presentation focuses on the following:
Practical roadmap for building a national repository
Importance of multi-stakeholder collaboration
Key technical and governance considerations
Real-world lessons: what works and what doesn’t
Strategies for driving adoption and engagement
Ottoman Empire, Borno, and Rabih: A Complicated Relation Between the 1840s and 1900s
(Center for Research and Documentation in Trans-Saharan Studies, 2025-12) Duymus, Kerem
The history of Borno during the 19th century still lacks a considerable picture regarding the relations between Borno and the Ottoman Empire. This article presents, for the first time, a substantial compilation of Ottoman archival sources from Turkey and Libya, thereby illuminating the previously neglected subject of political and diplomatic relations between the Ottoman Empire and Borno from the 1840s to 1893. Numerous new findings indicate that there was not only a very dens diplomatic relation between two states, but they even created a new political system incorporating Borno into the Ottoman rule, ensuring the further autonomy of the Al-Kanemi dynasty. Furthermore, additional discoveries reveal the intricate diplomatic dynamics between the Ottoman Empire and Rabih from 1893 to 1900, thereby offering a fresh perspective on the historical context of both Rabih and Borno.
MR Owethu Mlambo
(N/A, 2026-03-20) Owethu Mlambo
Informal economies in South Africa, specifically within the Gauteng City-Region, represent a vital but "unmeasured" economic engine. Despite their scale, these high-entropy systems suffer from a "resolution gap" in data, leading to suboptimal investment and policy-making (pp. 1-2).
This paper proposes a framework for an Informal Economic Digital Twin (IEDT) to decode the inherent disorder of township economies through structured information flow (p. 1).
Methodology: Using a Multi-Resolution Data Stack, the research integrates decadal census data, quarterly labour surveys (QLFS), and high-resolution ward-level indicators from the GCRO Quality of Life Survey (2024) (pp. 2-3). This data seeds an Agent-Based Model (ABM) that utilizes distributed human intelligence and Monte Carlo simulations to model agent heterogeneity and "re-order" system entropy under specific policy interventions (pp. 2, 5).
Results: Preliminary findings from the Gauteng case study demonstrate that the perceived chaos of informal sectors is a measurement problem rather than a lack of structure (pp. 1, 3). The model successfully identifies "opportunity deserts" and predicts differentiated economic impacts for diverse personas, such as township entrepreneurs and NEET youth (p. 3).
Conclusion: The IEDT provides a scalable "Gold Standard" for data ingestion, allowing for more efficient capital direction and risk assessment in township spaces (pp. 1, 5). This approach transforms high-entropy noise into actionable economic signals, essential for an economically inclusive South Africa (pp. 1, 4).
Gestão de resíduos sólidos urbanos em Angola: custos, benefícios e externalidades – estudo de caso na Província de Luanda (2010–2014)
(AfricArXiv, 2026) Sousa Gonçalo, Agostinho
Urban solid waste management (USWM) represents a major structural challenge in rapidly growing African cities, often characterized by landfill-based linear systems associated with high economic, environmental, and public health costs. In Angola, particularly in Luanda Province, there is a lack of empirical studies that integrate these dimensions. This study analyzes USWM between 2010 and 2014, combining direct public expenditures, the economic value of unrecovered recyclable materials, and associated health impacts. Based on official data, approximately 10.9 million tons of waste were landfilled, generating public expenditures exceeding 206 billion kwanzas and estimated economic losses of 162.9 billion kwanzas. Additionally, 4.8 million disease cases and 6,510 deaths were recorded, corresponding to estimated minimum health-related costs of 72.5 billion kwanzas. The findings reveal structural inefficiencies in the current system and highlight the need for integrated waste management policies focused on recycling, resource recovery, and improved coordination between environmental and public health sectors.
Keywords: municipal solid waste; economic efficiency; recycling; public health; externalities; urban sustainability; Africa
Effet des pâturages sur la composition et la diversité floristique dans le groupement de Mbinga-Nord en territoire de Kalehe.
(2026-03-10) Paul Lunyerere Munihire.; ISAAC MAKELELE; Erick BAHATI
Les activités humaines transforment de plus en plus les écosystèmes naturels, notamment à travers l’expansion agricole et les pratiques pastorales. Le pâturage constitue l’un des facteurs les plus influents affectant la structure de la végétation, la composition floristique et la biodiversité (Milchunas & Lauenroth, 2019 ; Eldridge & Delgado-Baquerizo, 2018). Cette étude analyse les effets de l’intensité du pâturage sur la diversité végétale et la composition floristique dans le groupement de Mbinga-Nord, territoire de Kalehe, à l’est de la République Démocratique du Congo.
Les relevés de végétation ont été réalisés dans trois zones représentant différents niveaux d’intensité de pâturage : zone fortement pâturée, zone moyennement pâturée et zone non pâturée. Des parcelles de 100 m² pour la végétation ligneuse et 1 m² pour la végétation herbacée ont été utilisées. Les indices de diversité Shannon, Simpson et l’équitabilité de Pielou ont été calculés.
Au total, 86 espèces appartenant à 78 genres et 59 familles ont été recensées dans l’ensemble des sites étudiés. Les résultats montrent que la richesse floristique diminue avec l’augmentation de l’intensité du pâturage. Les zones non pâturées présentent la plus grande diversité spécifique (Shannon = 2,99 ; Simpson = 0,947), tandis que les zones fortement pâturées présentent les valeurs les plus faibles (Shannon = 2,51 ; Simpson = 0,903).
Ces résultats confirment que le pâturage intensif peut entraîner une réduction de la biodiversité et modifier la structure de la végétation (Zhang et al., 2024 ; Zhao et al., 2024). L’étude souligne la nécessité de mettre en place des stratégies de gestion durable des pâturages afin de préserver l’équilibre écologique des écosystèmes pastoraux.
Mots-clés
Pâturage, diversité végétale, composition floristique, biodiversité, Kalehe, République Démocratique du Congo