Selling online in Africa: all the answers

How do I create an online store in Africa?

With Afrify, you create an online store in 1 minute, for free and with no bank card, from your phone or your computer. No technical knowledge is needed.

• Sign up on afrify.io with your email or your Google account.
• Enter your store's name, your country and your WhatsApp number: your store is online at a free .afrify.io address, in your country's currency.
• Add a product: take a photo of it, and the AI writes the product page and creates the visuals. You review it, then publish.
• Share your store link on WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram or TikTok. Your phone rings with every order.

Which platform should I use to sell online in Africa?

To sell in Africa, a platform has to handle cash on delivery, show prices in the local currency and work on phones first: most customers order from a mobile and pay when the package arrives.

Afrify is built for this: built-in cash on delivery, 54 African countries and their currencies (CFA franc, naira, cedi, shilling…), stores in French or English, product pages written by AI from one photo, and an Android app that rings with every sale. The Starter plan is free, forever.

Is there a Shopify alternative for Africa?

Yes: Afrify is a Shopify alternative built for African sellers. Shopify is designed first for online card payments, with a subscription billed in dollars; Afrify starts from how people actually buy in Africa:

• cash on delivery, with numbered orders tracked until the cash is collected;
• a subscription priced in CFA francs, payable by mobile money or card, and a free-forever plan;
• every African country's currency on the store;
• a complete product page created by AI from a single photo;
• riders, stock, suppliers and expenses managed in one place;
• an Android app that rings with every order and flags abandoned carts to call back.

How do I sell online in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya or Senegal?

Afrify works the same way in all 54 African countries: you pick your country when you create the store, and it is shown in your currency — naira in Nigeria, cedi in Ghana, shilling in Kenya, CFA franc (XOF) in Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire and Mali, CFA franc (XAF) in Cameroon, and so on.

Your customers order with a short form (name, phone, city) and pay on delivery. You confirm by call or WhatsApp, assign a rider and track the payment. The store can be shown in English or French.

How do I sell with cash on delivery?

On an Afrify store, cash on delivery is the default payment method: customers order in seconds without paying anything online, then pay the rider when the package arrives.

Every order is numbered and tracked: confirmed, out for delivery, delivered, paid. A customer who leaves their number without confirming becomes a numbered abandoned cart you can call back. You always see what has been collected and what is still due.

Can my customers pay with mobile money?

On Afrify, customers pay on delivery: they pay the rider in cash, or by mobile money (MTN MoMo, M-Pesa, Orange Money, Wave…) if you accept it. Your store needs no online payment account to get started.

Your Afrify subscription is paid by mobile money where available, or by Visa or Mastercard.

How much does Afrify cost?

Afrify has a free-forever plan, Starter, and paid plans to grow. No commitment: you switch plans whenever you like, and the yearly subscription costs 30% less than twelve months.

• Starter: free, forever — to get started and test: 1 store, 1 product, 50 orders a month, 100 AI credits to get started, standard support.
• Pro: 15,000 FCFA a month, or 126,000 FCFA a year (about $26 a month outside the CFA franc zones) — to grow your sales: 5 stores, unlimited products and orders, 3 team members per store, 500 AI credits per month, priority support, custom domain name, Google Sheets.
• Business: 21,000 FCFA a month, or 176,400 FCFA a year (about $36 a month outside the CFA franc zones) — for large teams & networks: unlimited stores, unlimited products and orders, unlimited team members, 1,000 AI credits per month, priority support, custom domain name, Google Sheets.

Prices are set in CFA francs. Outside the CFA franc zones they are shown in US dollars, and in Guinean francs in Guinea. You pay by mobile money where available, or by card.

How does Afrify's AI create a product page from a photo?

You take a photo of your product, even at the market, and add a detail if you like (size, material…). In about a minute, Afrify's AI writes the name, the description, the key benefits, how to use it and the page sections (benefits, FAQ, comparison…), then creates up to 5 studio photos of the product. Everything stays editable before you publish.

A page's texts cost 5 AI credits and each photo 15: a complete page with 5 photos comes to 80 credits. Signing up gives you 100 credits; paid plans add more every month, and credit packs are on sale.

Do I need to know how to code?

No. On Afrify, everything is done with simple forms, from a phone or a computer: the store, the products, the colors, the pages and the orders. The store adapts automatically to your customers' phones.

Can I run my store from my phone?

Yes. The Afrify Android app makes your phone ring with every order, even with the app closed, showing the order number, the amount and the customer's country. You manage orders, abandoned carts, stock and expenses there, and schedule a customer callback at the agreed time. The iPhone version is coming soon.

How do I manage a team and delivery riders?

From the Pro plan, you add admins, staff and riders on Afrify, and choose which stores each one can access. Everyone only sees what concerns them: a rider only sees the orders to deliver.

Can I use my own domain name?

Yes. Every Afrify store gets a free .afrify.io address (for example mystore.afrify.io). From the Pro plan, you can connect your own domain, such as www.mystore.com, from the settings.

How do I track my sales and Facebook ads?

The Afrify dashboard shows your sales, visits, conversion and real profit: cash collected minus your expenses, ads and delivery included. The Facebook Pixel connects to your store to link sales to your ads, and on paid plans your orders can be copied automatically into Google Sheets.

How do I manage stock and suppliers?

Afrify tracks the stock of every product and every variant (size, color). You record your supplier orders, from China or the local market: when they arrive, your stock updates.

How do I contact Afrify?

By email at contact@afrify.io. Support also answers on WhatsApp, with priority for paid plans.