The NIHSS serves to advance Pan-African postgraduate scholarship through a variety of innovations. The African Pathways Scholarship is one such innovation, which serves to: Include collaborative supervision of doctoral students by two or more African universities; and Provide a platform for African scholars to cooperate and collaborate to reflect on the past, present and future of the continent.

The African Pathways Programme is an expansion of the Continental and Global South scope of the NIHSS. The aim is primarily to develop an Africa centred programme and, further, to facilitate research and teaching, including national curriculum innovation. The African Pathways Programme facilitates African research and teaching networks through annual mobility grants, which provide support to South African researchers and postgraduate students to access opportunities that enhance targeted HSS scholarship and collaborations within the African continent. In the interests of increasing the footprint of its South African programme on the continent, the NIHSS collaborates with CODESRIA to extend 37 scholarships per year to full-time non-South African PhD students based at South African universities.

This programme requires engagement with various governments and their education ministries, and other African institutions of higher education. The uptake and momentum of the African Pathways Programme both confirms the need for the programme and promises its success.

The African Pathways Programme is the elaboration of the Continental and Global South scope of the Institute. The aim is primarily to develop an African-centred Erasmus-type programme and, further, to facilitate national curriculum innovations. The Institute will strive to create an open and dynamic process through which African scholars cooperate, collaborate and help one another reflect on the past, present and future of this continent. This will require engagement with continental bodies like CODESRIA, various governments and their education ministries, and other African higher education institutions. The programme will be complimented by a Phd Scholarship programme for non-South Africans studying in South African institutions.