An AI-powered math tutor called Rori, developed by Sierra Leone-based Rising Academies, is expanding into government schools across West and East Africa after a study found students using it achieved improvements equivalent to an extra year of learning. Unlike in the United States, where parents are often skeptical of AI in classrooms, Shabnam Aggarwal, the company’s chief technology officer, said African parents see the tool as a way to give their children an advantage.
Rori generates math and other lessons on WhatsApp, adapting difficulty based on student responses. It is designed to work in areas with low connectivity and to supplement learning in classrooms affected by Africa’s severe teacher shortage.
“Teachers are trying really hard, but they’re just not getting the support and training they need,” Aggarwal said.
An eight-month study of 500 students conducted in 2023 by researchers from Oxford and J-PAL found that students who used Rori for two 30-minute sessions a week outscored a control group by a margin roughly equivalent to an extra year of study.
Rori is now expanding to government schools in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Rwanda, and Ghana. Similar experiments are underway elsewhere, including in Nigeria, where a 2025 study found that access to Microsoft Copilot helped students learn English.
The reception in Africa contrasts sharply with attitudes in the United States. A February survey from the Pew Research Center found that four in ten US adults expect AI to have a negative impact on society, and two of the largest US school districts have recently restricted students’ use of AI.
Analysis
Why This Matters
- AI tools like Rori could help bridge educational gaps in regions with acute teacher shortages, potentially improving learning outcomes for millions of students.
- The success of WhatsApp as a delivery platform demonstrates how low-tech, high-access solutions can bring AI benefits to areas with limited internet infrastructure.
- The divergent responses between African and US parents highlight how cultural context shapes acceptance of AI in education.
Background
Rising Academies is a Sierra Leone-based education technology company that focuses on improving learning in underserved regions. Its AI tutor Rori operates through WhatsApp, a widely used messaging platform across Africa. The tool’s adaptive learning approach adjusts content difficulty in real time, aiming to supplement rather than replace classroom instruction. The 2023 study involved 500 students and was conducted by researchers at the University of Oxford and the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL).
What to Watch
- Whether the expansion into government schools in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Rwanda, and Ghana yields similar results at a larger scale.
- How other tech companies and governments in the region respond to the initial evidence from Rori and the Microsoft Copilot study in Nigeria.
- Potential interest from international donors and education ministries seeking cost-effective ways to address teacher shortages.
Checked
12 claims in this story checked against 1 source: 10 supported.
Show each claim
- SupportedRori users across Africa showed learning gains equivalent to an extra year of study.Semafor: “But students across Africa who used Rori for two 30-minute sessions a week outscored a control group by a margin roughly equivalent to an extra year of study”
- SupportedParents across Africa embrace the AI math tutor.Semafor: “Across Africa, parents embrace AI math tutor.”
- SupportedThe study’s Rori users had two 30-minute sessions a week.Semafor: “students across Africa who used Rori for two 30-minute sessions a week outscored a control group”
- SupportedRori users outscored a control group by a margin roughly equivalent to an extra year of study.Semafor: “outscored a control group by a margin roughly equivalent to an extra year of study”
- SupportedRori is expanding to government schools in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Rwanda and Ghana, across West and East Africa.Semafor: “Rori is now expanding to government schools in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Rwanda, and Ghana.”
- Partly supportedAmerican parents are often skeptical of AI in classrooms.Semafor: “Unlike American parents who often bristle about AI in elementary grades”
- Partly supportedAfrican parents see Rori as a way to give their children an advantage.Semafor: “across Africa, many see AI as a way to “give their kids a leg up,” she said.”
- SupportedShabnam Aggarwal said, “Teachers are trying really hard, but they’re just not getting the support and training they need.”Semafor: ““Teachers are trying really hard, but they’re just not getting the support and training they need,” Aggarwal says.”
- SupportedThe study was eight months long, involved 500 students, was conducted in 2023 and was conducted by Oxford and J-PAL researchers.Semafor: “according to an eight-month study of 500 students conducted in 2023 by Oxford and J-PAL researchers.”
- SupportedA February Pew Research Center survey found four in ten US adults expect AI to have a negative impact on society.Semafor: “Four in ten US adults say they expect AI to have a negative impact on society, according to a February survey from the Pew Research Center”
- SupportedTwo of the largest US school districts have recently restricted students’ use of AI.Semafor: “two of the largest US school districts have recently restricted students’ use of AI .”
- SupportedA 2025 study in Nigeria found that access to Microsoft Copilot helped students learn English.Semafor: “in Nigeria, where a 2025 study found access to Microsoft Copilot helped students learn English.”
