The termite knows something Ghana's building code does not. For centuries, the insect has been engineering with the country's laterite-rich clay, structures so precise and durable they survive the harshest tropical seasons.

Scientists at KNUST's TCC-CIMET research centre are deploying quantum computing methods to validate Ghana's laterite-clay and agricultural fibre composites for use in certified construction; a development that could open the country's building code to locally  sourced, low-carbon materials for the first time.

Ghana’s Untapped Construction Resource

Across Ghana’s savanna and transitional zones lies a largely overlooked natural resource with the potential to reshape sustainable construction in Africa: laterite-clay deposits and agricultural bio-waste materials.

Every year, Ghana’s agricultural processing sector generates an estimated 500,000 tonnes of palm-nutshell and coconut husk waste. At the same time, termite mound clay and laterite deposits remain abundant across many parts of the country. Yet despite their availability, these materials are still absent from Ghana’s approved load-bearing construction specifications.

The challenge is not scarcity. It is certainty.

For architects, engineers, and regulators, construction materials must meet predictable performance standards. Without reliable data on strength, durability, moisture response, and long-term structural behaviour, natural composites remain difficult to approve of for public infrastructure and large-scale building projects.

This data gap has become one of the major barriers preventing locally sourced earth and bio-based materials from entering mainstream construction.

What RENABUMA and BUCABUMA have already built

The work at TCC-CIMET under the leadership of Prof. Francis Davis does not begin from scratch. The RENABUMA (Reinterpreting Natural Building Materials) project has already demonstrated the practical viability of local natural materials, having constructed pavilions using clay, wood, and natural fibres, proof that Ghana's earth can be shaped into inhabitable space. The BUCABUMA (Building Capacity in Circular Natural Materials) project extends that work through digital fabrication and circular economy principles across a five-country African consortium funded by the European Commission.

Both projects have reinterpreted Ghana's local palette of laterite, clay, bamboo, coconut fibre, and palm-nut fibre through digital design and frugal fabrication. What they share, and what has constrained both, is the same limiting factor: material performance data is slow to generate. A single validated mix design, produced through conventional laboratory testing, can take months of iterative cycles. Scaling from demonstration pavilion to code-approved building requires a different speed of knowledge.

Where quantum computing enters the picture

TCC-CIMET intends to change that and it is not waiting for quantum hardware to mature before it does. The centre is exploring hybrid quantum-classical algorithms, computational methods that pair near-term quantum processors available on the cloud with conventional high-performance computing, to model and optimise the molecular and macro-structural behaviour of laterite-clay composites.

"KNUST's TCC-CIMET is not waiting for quantum hardware to mature. It is exploring hybrid quantum-classical methods available now on the cloud to solve a very local problem: making Ghana's abundant earth and bio-waste into predictable, code-compliant building materials."

— Prof. Alexander Boakye Marful, Principal Investigator RENABUMA,BUCABUMA

The research targets specific computational bottlenecks that slow composite characterisation: multi-variable optimisation of clay-fibre ratios, simulation of moisture-induced microcracking under cyclic loading, and prediction of long-term creep behaviour in tropical humidity. These are precisely the problem classes for which hybrid quantum-classical variational algorithms have demonstrated early advantage over purely classical solvers  generating the predictive strength and durability numbers that the Ghana Building Code approval process demands, at a speed that conventional laboratory methods alone cannot match.

Why this matters for Ghana's built environment

A code-compliant laterite-clay composite specification would give architects and engineers a locally sourced, low-carbon, low-cost alternative to cement-heavy concrete for a defined set of structural applications. At current cement import prices and carbon accounting trajectories, the economic and environmental case for such materials is strong. The missing ingredient has always been the data.

The broader ambition is a replicable methodology. If quantum-enhanced simulation can generate validated mix designs for Ghanaian laterite-clay composites, the same approach  adapted for local soil chemistry  is transferable to partner institutions in Kenya, Ethiopia, and South Africa, where analogous earth-building traditions face identical regulatory barriers. By focusing on hyperlocal materials and community-driven solutions, the project marks a step towards a more sustainable, affordable, and climate-conscious built environment across the continent.

Call for collaboration

TCC-CIMET at KNUST welcomes collaboration from researchers, materials scientists, quantum computing specialists, engineers, and institutions interested in advancing climate-resilient construction in Africa. If your expertise intersects with circular natural materials, computational optimisation, or sustainable built environments, we invite you to reach out.

TCC-CIMET is the lead institution for the BUCABUMA project, led by Prof. Alexander Boakye Marful.

The consortium brings together international partners including the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and TU Braunschweig in Germany, which support digital design, fabrication, and quantum access, as well as the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa, which contributes expertise in material science research.

Additional consortium partners include the University of Nairobi and Addis Ababa University.