Sending SMS to Africa from the UK: UK GDPR, PECR, Sender IDs and GBP Billing

A UK business can send SMS to African mobile numbers through an A2P SMS API or SMPP connection, using E.164 numbers (such as +233241234567 for Ghana) and a sender ID registered in each destination country. Two sets of rules apply at once: UK GDPR (and the ICO's PECR guidance on marketing texts) governs how you, as a UK organisation, collect and use the data, while the destination country's regulator governs what reaches the handset.

This guide is for UK universities, charities, fintechs, retailers and recruiters with contacts in Africa. It focuses on what is different for a UK sender: the compliance overlap, paying in GBP for a USD service, and the time difference with BST.

Last reviewed: 28 October 2026. This is general information, not legal advice. Network rules change without notice; check with the regulator or your counsel for edge cases.

Your UK obligations travel with the data

Article 3 of the UK GDPR applies to processing in the context of the activities of an establishment in the UK, regardless of where the processing takes place. If your organisation is in the UK and you hold the phone numbers of applicants in Accra or donors in Nairobi, UK GDPR applies to how you collect, store and use those numbers, even though the recipients are not in the UK.

Marketing texts and PECR

The ICO's guidance on direct marketing by electronic mail treats text messages as electronic mail. The core rule is that you need the recipient's consent, or must meet every condition of the "soft opt-in", before sending unsolicited marketing to individuals. The ICO also separates service messages (an exam timetable, a receipt) from direct marketing; adding promotional content to a service message makes it marketing. The ICO's guidance does not focus on recipients abroad, so the practical approach for a UK sender is to meet PECR standards and the destination's rules, whichever is stricter.

Charities should note the update the ICO made in April 2026: a soft opt-in for charitable purposes under regulation 22(3A) of PECR, introduced by the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025. Read the conditions on the ICO page before relying on it.

International transfers

Sending a number to an SMS provider so the message can be delivered on an African network can involve a restricted transfer under UK GDPR. The ICO's international transfers guide sets out a three-step test to decide whether a transfer is restricted, and if it is, you rely on adequacy regulations, an appropriate safeguard (the IDTA or the UK Addendum to the EU standard contractual clauses) or a narrow exception. For transfers under the IDTA or Addendum, a transfer risk assessment is expected. Document this in your records before launch, and ask your provider for its data processing terms.

The destination rules you also need

The receiving country decides what counts as acceptable commercial messaging, and networks filter traffic that breaks local rules. Examples UK senders run into:

• Nigeria: numbers registered on the NCC Do Not Disturb service (STOP to 2442) do not receive unsolicited promotional messages.
• South Africa: POPIA section 69 requires consent for electronic direct marketing, with a narrow existing-customer exception, plus sender identity and an opt-out in each message.
• Kenya: the Communications Authority's Consumer Protection Regulations, 2010 set an opt-in principle for automated direct marketing.
• Uganda: commercial messages between 19:00 and 06:00 are prohibited without the recipient's agreement under the 2019 regulations.

For a country-by-country summary with sources, use our pages such as SMS in Ghana, SMS in Nigeria and SMS in South Africa.

Sender IDs: one per country, registered in advance

In the UK you can usually send from an alphanumeric sender without registering it. Many African networks work differently: they register sender IDs per country and sometimes per network, and filter generic or unregistered names. eSMS Africa files the registration for you. The published fee is USD 100 one-time in most countries, with per-network tables in Kenya and Uganda; see the sender ID hub for each country's steps. You can test on the eSMS default sender while yours is reviewed.

Pick the name your recipients recognise, up to 11 characters. "NorthgateU" works better than "NGU-ADMISSIONS", which is too long and uses a character some networks strip. Replies are not possible on a one-way sender ID, so do not write "reply STOP" unless you use a two-way short code; offer a link or contact option instead.

Numbers and live prices for common UK-Africa corridors

Write every number as + country code + national number without its leading zero. A Ghanaian student who gives you 024 123 4567 becomes +233241234567. UK systems sometimes add 00 or 44 by default; strip both for African numbers.

Prices are per SMS segment and update from the live price list. The local route rate applies to traffic the networks treat as local; the international route rate covers cross-border traffic that keeps your sender ID end to end. Which applies to your traffic is confirmed at onboarding. All 46 live countries are on the pricing page.

Paying in GBP for a USD service

Your eSMS Africa wallet is held in USD. You top up by card (a UK debit or credit card works) or with crypto, from USD 20, with no monthly minimum and no setup fee for the SMS API. When you pay by card, your card issuer converts GBP to USD at its own rate and may add a foreign transaction fee, which shows on your statement, not ours.

• Budget in USD and convert once, at top-up time, rather than per campaign.
• Leave a small buffer for exchange-rate movement if your finance team approves budgets in GBP.
• Payment receipts can be downloaded from the dashboard for your accounts team.
• The "local" view of a price shows the recipient country's currency, not GBP. Use the USD figure for budgeting.

Cost per message is the number of segments x the per-segment rate. 160 GSM-7 characters fit one segment; a message containing an emoji or a character outside GSM-7 switches to Unicode at 70 characters per segment. The pound sign is part of GSM-7, but curly quotes pasted from a word processor are not.

Time zones: GMT, BST and Africa

West Africa shares GMT with the UK in winter, so a 10:00 London send lands at 10:00 in Accra. In British Summer Time, the UK moves an hour ahead of Ghana and Senegal, while most African countries do not change their clocks.

Use the scheduling option in the dashboard or API and set each country's send in its own local time, especially for promotional traffic near evening cut-offs.

Example: an admissions reminder to applicants in Ghana and Nigeria

A merge-field template in GSM-7, under 160 characters for typical names:

Northgate Uni: Hi Kofi, your offer pack is ready. Log in to the applicant portal to accept by 30 Nov.

Sending it to several countries in one bulk call from Python:

import requests

resp = requests.post(
    "https://sms.esmsafrica.io/api/messages/send-bulk",
    headers={"Authorization": "Bearer esms_live_your_key_here"},
    json={
        "sender_id": "NorthgateU",
        "text": "Northgate Uni: Hi {{name}}, your offer pack is ready. Log in to the applicant portal to accept by {{date}}.",
        "recipients": [
            {"to": "+233241234567", "name": "Kofi", "vars": {"date": "30 Nov"}},
            {"to": "+2348031234567", "name": "Ngozi", "vars": {"date": "30 Nov"}},
        ],
    },
    timeout=30,
)
print(resp.status_code, resp.json())

Start with a test key (esms_test_...), which simulates sends without charge, then check delivery reports per network. The Python guide and the HTTP API docs cover scheduling and webhooks.

Frequently asked questions

Does UK GDPR apply if all my recipients are in Africa?

If your organisation is established in the UK, UK GDPR applies to your processing of their data under Article 3, wherever the recipients are. The destination country's rules apply on top of that.

Do PECR rules cover texts to African numbers?

The ICO treats texts as electronic mail for marketing purposes, but its guidance does not focus on recipients abroad. A safe approach is to meet PECR consent and opt-out standards and the destination's rules, whichever is stricter. Check with your adviser for edge cases.

Can I pay in pounds?

You pay by card in GBP and your card issuer converts to USD, the currency of your wallet. Crypto top-ups are also available.

Do you deliver SMS inside the UK?

Our live delivery covers 46 African countries. International destinations, including the UK, are priced on request; see SMS to the United Kingdom.

Sources

• UK GDPR Article 3: territorial scope (legislation.gov.uk)
• ICO: Guidance on direct marketing using electronic mail
• ICO: A brief guide to international transfers
• NCC consumer portal: Do Not Disturb (DND) service in Nigeria
• DLA Piper Africa: Information Regulator guidance note on direct marketing (POPIA section 69)
• Communications Authority of Kenya: Consumer Protection Regulations, 2010
• Uganda Communications (Text and Multimedia Messaging) Regulations, 2019
• GSM 03.38 / 3GPP TS 23.038 character set (overview)

Planning sends from the UK to Africa? Read our guide for EU senders if you also operate in the EU, check coverage, and create an account to start with a free test key.