Partnerships are understood to be one of the strategies for internationalisation of higher education institutions. In recent years, there has been a slight shift in trends, with diversifying partnerships among African universities and with countries that do not have colonial ties. These include the USA, Canada and Scandinavian countries, among others, labelled as North–South partnerships. With the scarcity of empirical research on the subject matter, the impetus of this study was to explore the rationales, benefits and success factors for North–South partnerships across higher education institutions as perceived by administrators and academics from one Northern country, Sweden, and one Southern country, Mozambique. The study applied a mixed methods approach eliciting the experiences of 77 people in the two countries who are engaged in some form of North–South partnerships. The results showed that North–South partnerships are motivated by four rationales: academic, economic, social-cultural and political, enhanced by the success factors, among which are communication, trust, participation in decision-making, mutual respect, and attainment of goals and resources. Collaborative advantages across these partnerships were noted but some practices could be more decolonised.