Eleven scholars - among them historians, linguists, sociologists, archeologists - and their research projects are being funded by the Initiative from 2016 - 2020. For the period of 2020 - 2023 there are seven scholarship holders.

The different research projects deal with a variety of themes such as cultural heritage, the study of religious knowledge and networks, the archeology of colonial encounters in Ghana and Tanzania, the impact of migration on families and individuals in Djibouti, South Africa, and Morocco, or the production of a bilingual dictionary in Uganda.

The eleven projects, starting in late 2016, combine historical, sociological and archeological research perspectives in order to understand the heritage of a certain region, or current dynamics and conflicts as well as the potentials of various systems of personal or religious resources in Africa. The projects are led by postdoctoral scholars from seven African countries and are based in these scholars’ research centers.