Amazon Web Services (AWS) is bringing artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud technology into a basketball-based maths education programme in SA.
It is collaborating with US-based non-profit Learn Fresh and NBA Africa, to expand NBA Math Hoops across the continent.
The announcement was made at the annual Amazon Web Services Summit in Johannesburg yesterday.
According to the company, the initiative aims to reach 10 000 students across SA, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal and Egypt by the end of 2027. The expansion builds on a three-year pilot that has trained more than 100 educators in SA, Botswana and Mozambique.
NBA Math Hoops is an educational programme that uses basketball to teach maths to children, primarily students in grades four to eight.
The game uses basketball to teach fundamental mathematics and social-emotional skills to children. Students draft fantasy teams using NBA and WNBA players, then solve maths problems based on real player statistics.
Developed by Learn Fresh, the programme is delivered through a combination of curriculum, physical gameplay, digital tools and community events. Learn Fresh says the programme has now reached more than 1.4 million students globally, while its mobile app provides a digital version of the game.
The AWS partnership will add an AI and cloud layer to the programme, allowing Learn Fresh to scale its digital learning infrastructure across multiple African markets.
“AWS exists to help organisations build solutions that improve lives, and NBA Math Hoops is exactly the kind of programme we want to see succeed,” said Francessca Vasquez, VP of frontier AI engineering and services at AWS, during the announcement.
“By combining Learn Fresh’s proven curriculum with NBA Africa’s reach and AWS AI and cloud technology, we can give students in Johannesburg, Nairobi, Lagos, Dakar and Cairo access to a learning experience that is engaging, personalised and built to scale. This is what it looks like when technology serves as a force for good.”
AWS is providing the support through its Education Equity Initiative, a $100 million commitment to provide technology and technical expertise for digital solutions targeting underserved learners, noted Vasquez.
The initiative comes against a backdrop of persistent mathematics and numeracy challenges across Africa. UNESCO estimates that nearly 90% of children aged six to 14 in Sub-Saharan Africa do not achieve minimum proficiency in numeracy.
AWS says Amazon Bedrock will be used to personalise learning content, including maths challenges, according to individual students' ability levels and learning pace.
Amazon Translate will support localisation into English, Arabic, French and Swahili, while Amazon QuickSight will provide visibility into student engagement, learning outcomes and educator performance.
The use of cloud-based analytics allows the programme to operate across countries with different education systems, languages and levels of digital infrastructure.
Rather than simply digitising the existing NBA Math Hoops experience, the technology is intended to give Learn Fresh greater insight into how students interact with the programme and where additional intervention may be required.
Research into NBA Math Hoops has also indicated measurable learning gains. According to Learn Fresh, a randomised controlled trial found students gained four to five months of maths learning after 17 to 24 hours of programme exposure. The programme has also been evaluated through partnerships with the American Institutes for Research and WestEd.
From pilot to continental scale
AWS-powered digital tools will form part of the educator training and delivery infrastructure, while NBA Africa will use its network of offices, partners, community organisations and schools to support access.
The first regional tournaments across the five countries are planned for the first half of 2027. The longer-term ambition is to connect continental tournament participation with the Basketball Africa League Finals by 2030.
Clare Akamanzi, CEO of NBA Africa, said basketball can provide an entry point into education and opportunity.
“We believe basketball can be a powerful gateway to education, leadership and opportunity. Through NBA Math Hoops, young people develop critical math and problem-solving skills by engaging with the game they love.
“Our collaboration with AWS and Learn Fresh will help us bring this impactful programme to thousands more students across the continent. By combining the appeal of basketball with innovative technology and proven educational tools, we are helping equip the next generation with the skills they need to succeed in school and beyond,” noted Akamanzi.
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