The paucity of research in areas of greatest clinical need must be addressed urgently. We propose a model of collaboration in an era of information systems and emerging mobile health technology that has had significant success across the UK and has shown early encouraging results in South Africa (SA). We foresee that recent examples of surgical research collaboratives in SA will continue to promote regional, national and international 'hub-and-spoke' models and ultimately increase the South-South collaboration that is urgently needed to diffuse the skills and knowledge required to address the unmet surgical need in sub-Saharan Africa.