Epistemological Sovereignty and Institutional Capacity: A Comparative Analysis of African Studies Research in Ghana

The production of knowledge about Africa remains heavily influenced by Western epistemological frameworks and funding structures, even within the continent. This creates a tension between the aspiration for epistemological sovereignty and the institutional capacity required to realise it, particularly in the field of African Studies. This comparative study analyses the relationship between epistemological sovereignty and institutional capacity in African Studies research. It aims to identify the specific challenges and prospects facing research units in Ghana, comparing them against an idealised model of a self-determining scholarly ecosystem. The study employs a comparative case study design, analysing documentary sources and conducting semi-structured interviews with researchers and administrators across three major public university-based African Studies centres. Data were analysed using a thematic framework focused on funding, research agendas, knowledge dissemination, and human resource capacity. A significant finding is the pervasive influence of external donor priorities, which directly shape research agendas in approximately 70% of projects reviewed. While researchers express a strong desire for locally-grounded inquiry, institutional reliance on foreign grants systematically marginalises indigenous knowledge systems and prioritises extractive research models. The pursuit of epistemological sovereignty is fundamentally constrained by material dependencies. Institutional capacity in Ghanaian African Studies is currently configured to service externally-defined objectives rather than to generate autonomous, critical knowledge rooted in local epistemic traditions. Recommendations include the establishment of a national endowment fund for critical African Studies, the development of collaborative regional publishing infrastructures, and curriculum reforms to integrate methodological training in indigenous knowledge production. epistemological sovereignty, research capacity, African Studies, knowledge production, Ghana, comparative analysis, institutional development This paper provides a novel analytical framework linking the conceptual pursuit of epistemic freedom to the concrete material conditions of research institutions, offering a diagnostic tool for assessing autonomy in post-colonial academic settings.