For a decade, discourse on African research—from UNESCO's Open Science Recommendation to transformation strategies—has championed infrastructure, implementation gap remains: commitments rarely translate into capacity. Humanities and social sciences face three obstacles: (1) limited connectivity makes cloud-dependent workflows unreliable; (2) funding cycles prioritize pilots over maintenance; (3) scarce training data for African languages marginalizes non-English production. Partnership model reproduces dependency through Northern-controlled platforms, agendas, funding. Question: how can African humanities and social sciences build digital capacity using frugal, offline-first infrastructures, access protocols, curricula, and South-South funding instruments to circumvent dependency?
The Africa Multiple Cluster (2019–2025) used action research across its five partner centres. Though successful, implementation obstacles emerged. These challenges are illustrated through a case study of Moi University's African Cluster Centre (MuACC) as the first phase ended, drawing on internal evaluations, observations, and conversations with the team.
Digital Literacy Gap
Researchers at MuACC had a digital literacy gap requiring capacity-building, delaying DSpace uploads. Compiling contributions was slow due to reservations: some feared appropriation or publication without consent, while others saw no benefit, feeling the project gained at their expense. This trust deficit and lack of incentives became a bottleneck for open sharing, necessitating consent protocols to clarify work status and access rights once materials are on the platform.
Low Bandwidth and Unstable Power
Low bandwidth and unreliable power at MuACC made hybrid participation impossible: a video-conferencing device failed due to a power fault and expired battery; another meeting halted from low bandwidth. The network switch, shared with a Technical Vocational Entrepreneurship Training (TVET) institute, caused congestion and lacked speed. Fragile connectivity blocked digital research participation.
Un-Sustained ICT Infrastructure
Funding shortfalls left tools unused after Africa Multiple (AM) 1.0 ended due to lapsed licenses. Unbudgeted maintenance of printers and UPS units undermined durability. Strategies must sustain equipment via locally generated funds. A mindset shift is needed toward edge computing—an edge node (computer or Synology NAS) enables local processing and storage, reducing dependency and allowing retrieval under low bandwidth.
Data Curation and Stewardship
Data curation was time-consuming; metadata extraction from audio, video, and physical artefacts into Excel required skills, sometimes forcing consultation with Global North curators. DSpace upgrades were difficult due to bugs, so systematic training is needed for future phases.
Sustainable research in African humanities requires a frugal, offline-first model that tackles deficits—trust/incentives, infrastructure dependency, and funding asymmetry—by replacing cloud-reliant frameworks with edge computing nodes for local data stewardship, consent protocols that turn researcher reluctance into collaborative ownership, and South-South funding instruments that prioritize maintenance, training, and revenue over donor-cycle driven pilots.
South-South Ecologies
To realize South-South ecologies, AM should leverage network: work with South Africa Centre for Digital Language Resources (SADiLaR) on data curation training, UbuntuNet on bandwidth procurement, University of Ghana on digital preservation and Maseno on African-language Artificial Intelligence (AI). These partners move AM from donor-dependent pilot to a resilient, continent-wide research ecosystem that builds trust through local protocols, relies on regional infrastructure, and develops trained data curators.