Access to career guidance remains limited for millions of young people across Africa, especially those from low income and displaced communities. In response to this gap, the Kayode Alabi Leadership and Career Initiative has launched Rafiki X, a new web based extension of its widely used Rafiki AI platform. The initiative builds on proven demand and early impact, while introducing a sustainable model that allows career support to reach more people without relying fully on grants or charity.
Rafiki AI was launched ten months ago as Africa’s first generative AI career advisor designed specifically for underserved and displaced young people. Built to work entirely on WhatsApp, the platform made professional career guidance available on a tool many already use daily. The response was immediate. Within months, Rafiki AI reached over 9,300 users, exchanged more than 83,000 messages and answered close to 40,000 career related questions. Users came from more than 60 countries, with about 90 percent based in Nigeria.
The platform’s early growth required no marketing budget. Instead, it spread through student networks, refugee communities, low income schools and grassroots organisations. Within just three days of its April 2025 launch, Rafiki AI had reached 1,200 users across 22 countries, including 16 African nations. Its use stretched from African Leadership University campuses to refugee settlements and rural classrooms in Lagos State, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Yemen and other regions.
Beyond individual users, Rafiki AI also entered classrooms. Through partnerships with organisations such as Seed Care and Support Foundation, KLCI trained school leaders from 27 low income schools. These leaders then trained 70 teachers who now use Rafiki AI as a co-counsellor, supporting students with career decisions at scale.
From WhatsApp Guidance to a Full Career Companion
Rafiki X takes this foundation further. It is a web based extension of Rafiki AI that combines analytics with generative AI to offer deeper and more personalised career support. Users can upload their CVs for feedback, prepare for interviews, generate stories for job applications and continue longer career conversations with memory retained over time. The platform also supports voice to text and document uploads, making it accessible for users with different literacy levels and connectivity challenges.
According to KLCI, Rafiki X was developed directly from user feedback and platform data. Many users wanted help beyond basic advice. They needed tools that could help them tell their stories better, prepare confidently for opportunities and compete fairly in job markets that often overlook them.
While users can chat freely on the platform, access to advanced features such as multiple document uploads, unlimited voice notes and story generation requires a premium subscription. The pricing is intentionally low. Users can subscribe for two dollars per month or twelve dollars per year with a fifty percent discount. Importantly, this fee is positioned as a contribution rather than a barrier.
Speaking on the launch, KLCI Founder and Co-CEO Hammed Kayode Alabi said, “I am pleased to share the launch of Rafiki X, the web extensition of Rafiki AI with extra career support and advice features.” He explained that the platform’s success made it clear that long term impact required a new approach. “Enough of the charity cycle, we need to find new ways of redistributing wealth to provide support for those who need it the most.”
Building a Sustainable Model for Social Impact
The funds from paid subscriptions are used to keep Rafiki running on both the web app and WhatsApp, ensuring that free access remains available for underserved and displaced young people. This solidarity based model allows those who can afford to pay to support those who cannot, without removing access or dignity.
Rafiki X is supported by cloud credits from the Amazon Web Services Education Equity Initiative and the Founders Fund, also known as the Hammed Kayode Alabi Fund. This support has enabled KLCI to scale the platform while maintaining reliability and security.
KLCI believes this approach reduces dependence on grants and creates a more stable future for AI driven education tools. Rafiki Fellow and Head of Communications Shalom Adedeji reinforced this view, noting that every paid subscription directly enables free career guidance for young people who need it most.
The numbers already show the scale of impact. With nearly 40,000 career queries handled, Rafiki AI has delivered an estimated US$466,000 in career guidance value, based on a market rate of US$50 per session. More than 37,000 people have been indirectly reached through schools and communities.
Looking ahead, KLCI has set a clear target. By 2030, the organisation aims to reach 10 million underserved and displaced young people with career counselling. Rafiki X represents a critical step toward that goal, proving that technology, when paired with thoughtful design and fair economics, can expand opportunity without leaving the most vulnerable behind.
