eSMS Africa sends bulk SMS to seven Central African countries today: Cameroon, DR Congo, Congo-Brazzaville, Gabon, Chad, Central African Republic and Equatorial Guinea. Six of them share one currency, the Central African CFA franc (XAF), and one central bank, but they write in three European languages (French, Spanish and Portuguese) plus Arabic in Chad, which matters for message length.
Last reviewed: 28 October 2026. Network rules change without notice; this is general guidance, not legal advice.
Sao Tome and Principe is coming soon. We do not accept live traffic for it yet; register interest and we will let you know when it opens.
Central Africa at a glance
| Country | Dial code | Main networks | Sender ID | Language note | From (basic tier) | Guides |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cameroon | +237 | MTN, Orange, Nexttel, Camtel | Register through us before campaigns | French, English | XAF 30 ($0.0514) | bulk SMS, sender ID |
| DR Congo | +243 | Vodacom, Airtel, Orange, Africell | Register with each network | French, Lingala, Swahili | CDF 136.3 ($0.059) | bulk SMS, sender ID |
| Congo-Brazzaville | +242 | MTN, Airtel | Register with both networks | French, Lingala | XAF 67.5032 ($0.1157) | bulk SMS, sender ID |
| Gabon | +241 | Airtel, Moov Africa | Register with both networks | French | XAF 40 ($0.0686) | bulk SMS, sender ID |
| Chad | +235 | Moov Africa, Airtel | Register with both networks | French, Arabic (Unicode) | XAF 40 ($0.0686) | bulk SMS, sender ID |
| Central African Republic | +236 | Orange, Telecel, Moov Africa | Register through us before campaigns | French, Sango | XAF 167.7952 ($0.2876) | bulk SMS, sender ID |
| Equatorial Guinea | +240 | Muni, GETESA | Register with both networks | Spanish, French | XAF 50 ($0.0857) | bulk SMS, sender ID |
| Sao Tome and Principe | +239 | CST, Unitel | Coming soon | Portuguese | Coming soon | register interest |
The price column is the live basic-tier rate per SMS segment, in local currency (XAF, or Congolese francs for DR Congo) and USD. See SMS pricing for all tiers and pricing for plans. Every live country is on the coverage page.
CEMAC and the XAF: one currency, six countries
Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, Congo-Brazzaville, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon form CEMAC, the Central African Economic and Monetary Community. They share the Central African CFA franc (XAF), issued by the Bank of Central African States (BEAC) in Yaounde and pegged to the euro at a fixed rate of 655.957 XAF per euro. DR Congo is not a CEMAC member and uses the Congolese franc (CDF), with US dollars widely used for larger payments.
What this means for an SMS programme:
- Price lists in XAF work across six countries, so a regional message like "Votre facture de 15 000 FCFA est disponible" reads correctly in Libreville, Douala or N'Djamena. Note that "FCFA" is what customers write; XAF is the ISO code you will see on invoices.
- Do not confuse XAF with XOF, the West African CFA franc. The two have the same peg but are separate currencies and are not legal tender in each other's zone. A customer in Senegal pays in XOF; see our West Africa guide.
- Your eSMS balance stays in US dollars, paid by card or crypto, so you are not exposed to rate changes between countries. Local-currency prices on our pages are for reference.
Three European languages, three different SMS lengths
Central Africa is where language choice changes your cost most, because the three languages behave differently under the GSM-7 alphabet that lets an SMS hold 160 characters.
| Language | Where | Characters that force Unicode (70 per SMS) | Practical tip |
|---|---|---|---|
| French | Cameroon, DR Congo, Congo-Brazzaville, Gabon, Chad, CAR | ê, â, î, ô, û, ë, ï, lowercase ç (é, è, à, ù are fine) | Reword to avoid "être", "contrôle", "reçu"; most notices fit GSM-7 |
| Spanish | Equatorial Guinea | á, í, ó, ú (ñ, é, ü, ¿ and ¡ are fine) | "Pago recibido" fits GSM-7; "Su pedido llegó" does not |
| Portuguese | Sao Tome and Principe (coming soon) | ã, õ, á, ó, ê, â, lowercase ç | Expect Unicode; keep messages short |
| Arabic | Chad | All Arabic letters | Always Unicode: 70 per SMS, 67 per part |
When a message is split, each part holds 153 GSM-7 characters or 67 Unicode characters. The dashboard composer shows which encoding applies and how many parts you will pay for, before you send.
Sample messages
- French (Cameroon), one GSM-7 SMS:
CamPower: Votre facture de mars est de 15 000 FCFA. Payez par MTN MoMo ou Orange Money avant le 10/11. Ref 88213 - Spanish (Equatorial Guinea), one GSM-7 SMS:
MalaboTel: Pago de 25.000 XAF recibido. Gracias. Ref 4410 - French (DR Congo), one GSM-7 SMS:
KinMed: Rappel, votre rendez-vous est le 05/11 à 9h à la clinique de Gombe. Info: 081 000 0000
Cameroon is officially bilingual, so you may want English for contacts in the North West and South West regions and French elsewhere. If you hold a region field for each contact, a merge field can pick the language per recipient in one bulk send.
Country notes
Cameroon
Cameroon has four networks: MTN, Orange, Nexttel and the state operator Camtel. Register your sender ID with each before a campaign. See SMS in Cameroon, bulk SMS in Cameroon and the Cameroon country guide.
DR Congo
DR Congo has four networks (Vodacom, Airtel, Orange and Africell) and a large, spread-out territory; SMS works on any handset, which makes it a practical channel for customers outside Kinshasa and Lubumbashi. French is the business language; Lingala and Swahili are written in Latin script and fit GSM-7. See SMS in DR Congo, the DR Congo country guide and the older bulk SMS in DR Congo article.
Congo-Brazzaville and Gabon
Two networks each (MTN and Airtel in Congo-Brazzaville, Airtel and Moov Africa in Gabon), so registering with both covers the whole market. French throughout. See SMS in Congo-Brazzaville and SMS in Gabon.
Chad and Central African Republic
Chad (Moov Africa, Airtel) uses both French and Arabic; if you send Arabic, plan for Unicode lengths. The Central African Republic (Orange, Telecel, Moov Africa) sends mostly in French, with Sango widely spoken. See SMS in Chad and SMS in the Central African Republic.
Equatorial Guinea
The only Spanish-speaking country in Africa, with French also official. Muni and GETESA are the networks. See SMS in Equatorial Guinea.
Sending to the region
Use E.164 format for every number: +237 Cameroon, +243 DR Congo, +242 Congo-Brazzaville, +241 Gabon, +235 Chad, +236 CAR, +240 Equatorial Guinea. Drop any leading zero from the local number. One API call can carry recipients from several countries:
POST https://sms.esmsafrica.io/api/messages/send-bulk
Authorization: Bearer esms_live_...
{
"sender_id": "CAMPOWER",
"text": "CamPower: Votre facture est de {{amount}}. Ref {{name}}.",
"recipients": [
{"to": "+237671234567", "name": "88213", "vars": {"amount": "15 000 FCFA"}},
{"to": "+241062123456", "name": "88214", "vars": {"amount": "22 500 FCFA"}}
]
}
Use an esms_test_... key to simulate sends and delivery reports at no cost before you go live. The HTTP API docs cover scheduling and webhooks, and the sender ID pages list registration steps per country.
Frequently asked questions
Which Central African countries use the XAF?
Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, Congo-Brazzaville, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon, the six CEMAC members. DR Congo uses the Congolese franc.
Can I send to Sao Tome and Principe?
Not yet. It is on our coming-soon list and we do not accept live traffic for it today. Use the contact page to register interest.
Why do some French or Spanish messages count as two SMS?
Characters such as ê, ô and lowercase ç in French, or á, í, ó and ú in Spanish, are not in the GSM-7 alphabet. One of them switches the message to Unicode, which holds 70 characters per SMS instead of 160.
Am I billed in XAF?
No. Your eSMS balance is in US dollars, topped up by card or crypto from USD 20 with no monthly minimum. XAF prices on our pages are shown for reference.
Sources
- Central African CFA franc (XAF): CEMAC members and euro peg
- Bank of Central African States (BEAC)
- BEAC - Banque des Etats de l'Afrique Centrale (official site)
- 3GPP TS 23.038 - Alphabets and language-specific information (GSM-7 and UCS-2)
- 3GPP TS 23.040 - Technical realisation of SMS (concatenation headers)
Ready to reach Central Africa in French, Spanish or Arabic? Check live rates on SMS pricing, browse the Africa overview, and create a free account to send your first test message today.
