Freetown: Africell and Oxford University have agreed to collaborate on a groundbreaking research project into the economic and social impact of AI tools in West Africa.
According to Sierra Leone News Agency, the project will be partly funded by Schmidt Sciences's $3 million 'AI at Work Program'. Researchers at Oxford University's Internet Institute and Department of Economics will study 'AfriGPT', an innovative SMS-based AI chat tool available to Africell customers in Sierra Leone and The Gambia.
AfriGPT is a flexible and low-cost subscription service that allows users to interact with ChatGPT via SMS. The service requires only 2G mobile connectivity, eliminating the need for internet data access. This minimalist, SMS-based design addresses a significant barrier to AI chatbot adoption in low-income areas by allowing access without an internet connection. Researchers see AfriGPT as a unique case study for how generative AI tools can be adopted by unconventional user bases with applications in job search, entrepreneurship, and education.
Sam Williams, Africell's Group Communications Director, noted that tools like ChatGPT are common in Europe and North America but less so in Africa due to economic and technological constraints. AfriGPT offers mobile users in countries like Sierra Leone the ability to use AI chatbots without internet access. Africell supports this research to confirm AfriGPT's utility and value through data analysis.
Subscribers to AfriGPT pay a small fee for AI-generated answers to SMS-submitted questions. The system links to ChatGPT, allowing users with only a feature phone and basic 2G coverage to access AI capabilities. This service extends the benefits of ChatGPT to a poorer, younger, and more rural demographic.
A preliminary survey by Oxford researchers in April 2025 revealed distinct usage patterns of AfriGPT in Sierra Leone compared to global ChatGPT usage. The new research program, funded by Schmidt Sciences, aims to yield further insights into AfriGPT's use across different regions, devices, and times of year.
Johanna Barop and Joseph Levine, DPhil researchers from Oxford's Internet Institute and Department of Economics, aim to understand the factors influencing AI use in Africa. They seek to explore how AI chatbots are utilized in Sub-Saharan Africa, how this differs from global usage, and the associated benefits and risks. The researchers stress the need for more evidence to ensure AI tools are developed with low-income and rural communities in mind.