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
The Darwin Limit: Mathematical Constraints on the Speed of Biological Evolution
(Publisher, 2025-10-05) Barack Ndenga
I propose a novel theoretical framework that establishes a fundamental upper bound on the rate of biological evolution, which I term the Darwin Limit. This concept draws an analogy to the Planck Time in physics, serving as a minimal temporal unit that constrains the speed at which adaptive genetic changes can occur without compromising genomic stability. By integrating principles from information theory, thermodynamics, and evolutionary biology, I develop a mathematical model linking informational potential, genetic entropy, and evolutionary time, providing a quantitative measure for the maximal adaptive velocity a biological system can achieve.
I demonstrate that, as the entropy associated with genetic variation increases, the effective rate of adaptive evolution is inherently limited, creating a natural ceiling to the speed of evolution. This ceiling explains why, despite strong selective pressures, biological systems cannot evolve arbitrarily fast, and why phenomena such as punctuated equilibrium or evolutionary stasis emerge.
Furthermore, I explore the implications of the Darwin Limit for synthetic biology and artificial evolutionary systems, suggesting that informational and entropic constraints also bound the speed of adaptation in engineered or computationally evolving entities. By framing evolution as a process governed by thermodynamic-information constraints, the Darwin Limit provides a unifying theoretical lens to understand the interplay between time, entropy, and adaptive potential across natural and artificial evolutionary systems.
Ultimately, this framework lays the groundwork for quantitative predictions of evolutionary dynamics, opening avenues for experimental verification and establishing the Darwin Limit as a potential cornerstone in theoretical biology and evolutionary physics.
Vacuum Metabolism: A Theoretical Framework for Biological Exploitation of Quantum Zero-Point Energy
(Publisher, 2025-10-03) Barack Ndenga
introduce the concept of Vacuum Metabolism, a theoretical framework suggesting that living systems could, in principle, harness the quantum vacuum as an additional source of usable energy. Traditional bioenergetics describes cellular function as entirely dependent on biochemical processes such as oxidative phosphorylation and glycolysis, where nutrients are oxidized to generate adenosine triphosphate (ATP). However, the omnipresence of vacuum fluctuations at all spatial and temporal scales raises the provocative possibility that biology might have evolved, or could be engineered, to partially exploit this invisible energetic reservoir.
This paper develops the conceptual foundations of such a framework. It examines possible mechanisms by which nanoscale biological structures — such as ion channels, protein cavities, and membrane resonators — might modulate or couple to zero-point electromagnetic fields. Analogies are drawn with established physical phenomena including Casimir-type effects, cavity quantum electrodynamics (QED), and coherence in quantum biology. Building upon these analogies, a minimal energetic model is introduced, in which a vacuum-derived contribution is added to the classical free energy balance of the cell.
Several falsifiable predictions are proposed. If Vacuum Metabolism is plausible, measurable anomalies could emerge in vibrational spectra, ion transport kinetics, or photon emission statistics under controlled laboratory conditions. Potential experimental strategies include the design of biomimetic nanocavities to mimic protein environments, the monitoring of ion channel dynamics in altered vacuum-field conditions, and the use of ultrasensitive spectroscopies to detect shifts in vibrational states correlated with zero-point field modulation.
This pioneering work establishes a testable foundation for integrating vacuum field phenomena into bioenergetics. Beyond its theoretical implications, it opens a novel paradigm in biology, with potential applications in regenerative medicine, space exploration, biotechnology, and the development of bio-inspired quantum energy devices. By introducing this framework, I aim to stimulate rigorous debate and experimental inquiry into the possible role of the quantum vacuum as a biological energy source — a prospect that could reshape our understanding of life and energy at the most fundamental level.
Towards a Unified Field Theory of Chemistry: Bridging Quantum, Organic, and Biochemical Reactions through a Single Formalism
(Publisher, 2025-09-25) Barack Ndenga
Chemistry has historically been divided into distinct sub-disciplines: quantum chemistry, organic chemistry, and biochemistry. While each domain has developed robust predictive models, these approaches remain largely fragmented, resulting in limited capability to predict complex reactions that span multiple scales or domains. This fragmentation slows molecular discovery, hinders rational design of new compounds, and restricts the optimization of reaction pathways.
I introduce a Unified Field Theory of Chemistry (UFTC), a single operator-based formalism capable of describing and predicting chemical reactions across quantum, organic, and biochemical systems. The UFTC integrates first-principles quantum mechanics, functional group reaction rules, and enzyme-catalyzed biochemical processes within a coherent mathematical framework. By representing chemical transformations as generalized operators acting on molecular states, I provide consistent predictions of reaction energetics, pathways, and selectivity across diverse chemical domains.
I validated the UFTC on a representative set of reactions, including electron transfer in small molecules, aromatic substitution reactions, and enzymatic transformations. The results demonstrate high predictive accuracy compared to experimental data and reveal previously unreported reaction pathways, highlighting the theory’s potential for novel molecular discovery.
Furthermore, the UFTC framework is inherently compatible with computational simulations and artificial intelligence, enabling rapid exploration of chemical space, reaction optimization, and green chemistry applications. This unified approach establishes a conceptual and practical foundation for bridging traditionally separate chemical disciplines, accelerating research in drug design, metabolic engineering, and sustainable chemistry, and offering a transformative perspective on the fundamental principles governing chemical reactivity.
Reimagining Decentralized University Education in Africa: Toward a Scalable Framework for Industry-Linked Learning Hubs Inspired by ALU and CSA Rwanda
(RSIS, 2025-08-02) Sangwa, Sixbert; Ekosse, Emmanuel; Museveni, Isaac; Nsabiyumva, Simeon
This study investigates how decentralized, industry-linked learning hubs can address Africa's enduring higher education challenges of access, affordability, and employability. It proposes a scalable framework combining the African Leadership University (ALU)'s multi-city model with the Community Services Association (CSA) Rwanda's district-based learning ecosystem. The study is guided by three research questions: RQ1: What systemic enablers support the diffusion of industry-linked university hubs in Africa? RQ2: What key barriers limit diffusion, and how do they vary across countries? RQ3: How can proven models (e.g., ALU, CSA) be adapted and costed for scale? (2)Methodology. A qualitative comparative analysis was conducted using 35 high-credibility secondary sources filtered via a PRISMA-adapted protocol from an initial 245 records (2010-2025). Four cases-ALU, CSA, Ashesi University, and UNICAF-were analyzed through the lenses of Diffusion of Innovation, Triple Helix, and Experiential Learning theory. Although the study relies exclusively on secondary sources, we applied light-touch text-mining in MAXQDA: policy documents were tokenised, stop-words removed, and coded with an unsupervised LDA algorithm (k = 6) to surface latent themes that triaged sources for qualitative comparative analysis; no clustering or association-rule modelling was undertaken. Visual tools-including causal-loop diagrams, scorecards, and a Gantt-style scale-up roadmapsupported synthesis. (3) Findings. Five core enablers emerged: policy alignment, institutional autonomy, Triple Helix linkages, diversified finance, and contextualized curricula. Barriers included regulatory rigidity, funding fragility, governance gaps, and digital divides. The proposed Pan-African Learning Hub Framework blends ALU's experiential pedagogy with CSA's grassroots model, enabling vertical progression from districtlevel cooperatives to regional research hubs. A three-year scale-up plan (USD 400-4,000 per student/year) suggests viability under flexible policy conditions. (4) Research Limitations / Implications. Secondary-data reliance constrains causal attribution and excludes francophone/North African contexts. Field validation and financial modeling are recommended for future work. (5) Practical Implications. Policymakers and institutions can use this framework to pilot scalable, employment-linked hubs without constructing new campuses. (6) Originality / Value. This is the first study to align Africa-wide policy ambitions with operational design and costing of university-linked hub models.
Dilemma of a “Decolonial Historiography of Africa”?: Challenges in the Provinciality of the Anglo-European Academy
(ChronAfrica, 2025) Duymus, Kerem
This paper seeks to broaden the discourse surrounding decolonial historiography of Africa and decolonization as a whole by critically examining both the theoretical discussions surrounding de-colonial historiography and the practical efforts aimed at decolonization. Many scholarly dialogues have already centred on defining and understanding decolonial historiography, yet these conversations often operate at an abstract and philosophical level. Simultaneously, there has been increasing scholarly activity that scrutinizes the existing structures, power dynamics, and practices within the Anglo-European academy with the goal of decolonization. By uniting these two disparate areas of inquiry through a unifying perspective, this article endeavours to redirect the conversation toward acknowledging the myriad implicit legacies stemming from the provincial nature of the Anglo-European academy. Therefore, a comprehensive response that addresses both theoretical and applied aspects involves questioning whether ongoing research focused on Africa within the Anglo-European academic sphere still remains relevant today given the unprecedented advancements in global knowledge production around the world over recent decades.