The Foundation operates the Basler Afrika Bibliographien, set up in 1971 by Carl Schlettwein, with its unique holdings on Namibia, and promotes research on Africa in the humanities and social sciences. The Foundation has set the focus of its content on Namibia and southern Africa. In addition to promoting African studies at the University of Basel, this also covers supporting education in Namibia as well as documentation and research projects.
The Carl Schlettwein Foundation is recognized by Canton Basel-Stadt as a non-profit foundation and is a member of proFonds, the umbrella organization for non-profit foundations in Switzerland.