Transparency and open access in research are crucial to make the economy, medical services and thus society more effective and efficient. This applies to individual municipalities and regions within countries, nationwide, and ultimately also to the global society. The elephant in the room is evidently the ongoing climate change, as well as related global challenges and issues such as migration, environmental degradation, single nation economics, and conflict resolution. These topics are only partially separable; which is why transparent data collection and the utilization of research results in our digital age are not only possible, but also urgently needed. To allow African scientists actively join the discussions around these topics and thereby advancing their academic careers the region-specific preprint repository AfricArXiv.org triggers interdisciplinary research within the continent as well as globally. The repository is a platform for African scientists to publish their research output immediately and free of cost. Global threats and challenges resulting from climate change and political crises call for a new agenda to find solutions that work for not just a few but the global community.