eSMS Africa delivers bulk SMS to 14 West African countries from one account: Nigeria, Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire, Senegal, Benin, Togo, Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde. The region divides into English-speaking markets led by Nigeria and Ghana, a large French-speaking bloc, and two Portuguese-speaking countries, and that language split affects your message length and cost as much as any regulation does.
Last reviewed: 28 October 2026. Network rules change without notice; this is general guidance, not legal advice.
Liberia and Mauritania are coming soon. We do not take live traffic for them yet; register interest and we will contact you when they open.
West Africa at a glance
| Country | Dial code | Main networks | Sender ID | Language note | From (basic tier) | Guides |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nigeria | +234 | MTN, Airtel, Glo, T2 (formerly 9mobile) | Register per network; DND filters promotional traffic | English, Pidgin (GSM-7) | NGN 9.1 ($0.0068) | bulk SMS, sender ID |
| Ghana | +233 | MTN, Telecel Ghana, AT | Register through us before campaigns | English (GSM-7) | GHS 0.09 ($0.0077) | bulk SMS, sender ID |
| Cote d'Ivoire | +225 | Orange, MTN, Moov | Register through us before campaigns | French | XOF 30 ($0.0514) | bulk SMS, sender ID |
| Senegal | +221 | Orange, Yas, Expresso | Register through us before campaigns | French, Wolof | XOF 6.5928 ($0.0113) | bulk SMS, sender ID |
| Benin | +229 | MTN, Moov, Celtiis | Register through us before campaigns | French | XOF 25.12 ($0.0431) | bulk SMS, sender ID |
| Togo | +228 | Yas, Moov | Register through us before campaigns | French | XOF 30 ($0.0514) | bulk SMS, sender ID |
| Burkina Faso | +226 | Orange, Moov, Telecel Faso | Register through us before campaigns | French | XOF 30 ($0.0514) | bulk SMS, sender ID |
| Mali | +223 | Orange, Moov, Telecel Mali | Register through us before campaigns | French, Bambara | XOF 12.9522 ($0.0222) | bulk SMS, sender ID |
| Niger | +227 | Airtel, Zamani, Moov | Register through us before campaigns | French, Hausa | XOF 15.2859 ($0.0262) | bulk SMS, sender ID |
| Guinea | +224 | Orange, MTN, Cellcom | Register through us before campaigns | French | GNF 262.1194 ($0.0296) | bulk SMS, sender ID |
| Sierra Leone | +232 | Africell, Orange, QCell | Register through us before campaigns | English, Krio (GSM-7) | SLE 0.7955 ($0.0347) | bulk SMS, sender ID |
| Gambia | +220 | Africell, QCell, Gamcel | Register through us before campaigns | English (GSM-7) | GMD 5.86 ($0.0792) | bulk SMS, sender ID |
| Guinea-Bissau | +245 | Orange, Telecel | Register through us before campaigns | Portuguese, Kriol | XOF 23.1623 ($0.0397) | bulk SMS, sender ID |
| Cape Verde | +238 | CVMovel, Unitel T+ | Register through us before campaigns | Portuguese | CVE 12.5747 ($0.1274) | bulk SMS, sender ID |
| Liberia | +231 | Lonestar Cell MTN, Orange | Coming soon | English | Coming soon | register interest |
| Mauritania | +222 | Mauritel, Mattel, Chinguitel | Coming soon | Arabic, French | Coming soon | register interest |
The price column shows the live basic-tier rate per SMS segment, in local currency and USD. Volume tiers lower the rate; see SMS pricing for every country and tier, and pricing for how plans work. The coverage page lists everything on our network.
Nigeria: the largest market, with the strictest filtering
Most West African volume goes to Nigeria, and Nigeria is where filtering is most visible. The Nigerian Communications Commission runs a Do-Not-Disturb service: subscribers who text STOP to 2442 opt out of promotional messages entirely, or by category. Promotional traffic is filtered against that list; genuinely transactional messages (OTPs, debit alerts, delivery notices) travel on a separate transactional route. Two practical consequences:
- Never send OTPs on a promotional sender ID. Users on DND will silently miss their codes.
- Expect a share of any promotional list not to receive a marketing message, and do not read that as a delivery fault.
The four networks are MTN, Airtel, Glo and T2, the new name of 9mobile. Register your sender ID with each, and keep transactional and promotional IDs separate. Nigerian businesses can also order two-way short codes online. More on SMS in Nigeria, OTP in Nigeria and the Nigeria use cases.
Ghana, Sierra Leone and Gambia
The other English-speaking markets are smaller and simpler. Ghana has three networks (MTN, Telecel Ghana and AT) and is one of the countries where two-way short codes can be arranged. Ghana's Data Protection Act, 2012 (Act 843) gives individuals the right to stop their data being used for direct marketing (section 40), so build an opt-out into every promotional message. Sierra Leone and Gambia each have three networks; English and Krio both fit in GSM-7, so messages stay at 160 characters.
The French-speaking bloc
Cote d'Ivoire, Senegal, Benin, Togo, Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and Guinea send mostly in French. Orange and Moov are present in most of them, with MTN in Cote d'Ivoire, Benin and Guinea. Seven of the eight share a currency, the West African CFA franc (XOF), which makes regional price lists simpler; Guinea uses the Guinean franc.
French accents and message length
This is the single most useful thing to know about francophone SMS. The GSM-7 alphabet includes some French characters (é, è, à, ù and capital Ç) but not others: ê, â, î, ô, û, ë, ï and lowercase ç are missing. One of them anywhere in a message switches the whole text to Unicode, cutting capacity from 160 to 70 characters per SMS (153 to 67 per part when split).
Compare two versions of the same reminder:
Rappel: votre rendez-vous est confirmé demain à 10h. Pour annuler, appelez le 27 20 00 00 00.- only é and à, both in GSM-7: one SMS.Rappel : votre rendez-vous de contrôle est prévu demain à 10h00. Merci d'être à l'heure.- ô and ê force Unicode: two SMS.
Here "contrôle" and "être" are the problem. Rewording ("votre visite", "merci de venir à l'heure") usually brings a message back to one segment without making it sound unnatural. The dashboard composer shows the encoding as you type, so you can catch this before a campaign goes out. Our help article on SMS character limits explains the counting.
Number format changes
Two francophone countries changed their numbering recently, and old contact lists still carry the old format:
- Cote d'Ivoire moved from 8 to 10 digits on 31 January 2021, with network prefixes such as 07 for Orange, 05 for MTN and 01 for Moov. A number like +225 07 12 34 56 78 is correct; an 8-digit number is out of date.
- Benin moved to 10 digits on 30 November 2024 by adding 01 in front of existing numbers, so +229 97 12 34 56 becomes +229 01 97 12 34 56.
Fix both before you upload a list: undeliverable numbers still cost you time and skew your reports.
Consent in Senegal
Senegal's data protection authority, the CDP, has enforced the 2008 data protection law against marketing SMS: it warned the network Expresso for sending promotional messages without subscribers' prior consent and without a way to object, and published the decision. Treat prior consent and a working opt-out as the baseline for promotions in Senegal.
Portuguese-speaking West Africa
Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde send in Portuguese. Portuguese uses ã, õ, ç, á, ó and ê, most of which are outside GSM-7, so Portuguese messages often travel as Unicode. Keep them short or write a plain-character version where it still reads naturally. See SMS in Guinea-Bissau and SMS in Cape Verde.
A sample regional send
A retailer with stores in Lagos, Accra and Abidjan can send each market its own language in a single bulk call, using merge fields for the text that changes:
POST https://sms.esmsafrica.io/api/messages/send-bulk
Authorization: Bearer esms_live_...
{
"sender_id": "SHOPWA",
"text": "{{msg}}",
"recipients": [
{"to": "+2348031234567", "vars": {"msg": "SHOPWA: Your order 4471 is ready for pickup at Ikeja. Pay NGN 18,500 on collection."}},
{"to": "+233241234567", "vars": {"msg": "SHOPWA: Your order 4472 is ready for pickup at Osu. Pay GHS 210 on collection."}},
{"to": "+2250712345678", "vars": {"msg": "SHOPWA: Votre commande 4473 est disponible à Cocody, à payer au retrait: 25 000 XOF."}}
]
}
The French line keeps its accents: é and à are both in GSM-7, so it stays at 160 characters. Start with an esms_test_... key, which simulates sends and delivery reports for free. The API documentation lists every field.
For deeper single-country detail, see our older guide to bulk SMS in Cote d'Ivoire, and the bulk SMS hub for features that apply everywhere.
Frequently asked questions
Can I send to Liberia or Mauritania?
Not yet. Both are on our coming-soon list and we do not accept live traffic for them today. Use the contact page to register interest.
Why do my French messages split into two SMS?
Characters such as ê, ô, î and lowercase ç are not in the GSM-7 alphabet, so one of them switches the message to Unicode with 70 characters per SMS. é, è, à and ù are in GSM-7 and do not cause this.
Will my promotional SMS reach Nigerian numbers on DND?
No. Numbers registered on the NCC Do-Not-Disturb service do not receive promotional traffic. Transactional messages such as OTPs use a separate route and are not blocked by DND.
Which currency am I billed in?
Your balance is in US dollars. The pricing pages also show each country's local-currency equivalent, such as NGN, GHS and XOF, for reference.
Sources
- NCC - Do-Not-Disturb (DND) service in Nigeria
- The Guardian Nigeria - 9mobile rebrands to T2
- DLA Piper - Data protection laws of the world: Ghana (Act 843)
- OSIRIS - CDP Senegal action against marketing SMS sent without consent
- Fraternite Matin - Cote d'Ivoire numbers move from 8 to 10 digits on 31 January 2021
- CIO Mag - Benin numbering plan moves to 10 digits in November 2024
- West African CFA franc (XOF)
- 3GPP TS 23.038 - Alphabets and language-specific information (GSM-7 and UCS-2)
Ready to message West Africa? Browse the use cases by industry, compare live rates on SMS pricing, and create a free account to send a test message in English, French or Portuguese today.
