SMS API for Ethiopia: bulk SMS to +251 numbers

Ethiopia, located in the Horn of Africa, has Addis Ababa as its capital and is known for its growing economy and agricultural exports. Software products like mobile banking apps, ride-hailing services, and universities send text messages to users. These messages are triggered by events such as account logins, payment confirmations, and exam schedule updates. SMS is chosen because it reaches every mobile phone, requires no app installation, and is quickly read, making it ideal for users with basic handsets.

Ethiopia

Calling code +251

Per SMS segment
$0.06157
Messages for $100
1,624
Local language
Amharic and other Ethiopian languages
Encoding
Unicode (UCS-2)

What a bulk SMS send to Ethiopia costs

Every message is priced at $0.06157 per segment to Ethiopia. Texts over 160 GSM-7 or 70 Unicode characters are split into segments, so a two-segment text costs twice as much.
Messages1 segment2 segments
1$0.06157$0.12314
1,000$61.57$123.14
10,000$615.70$1,231.40
100,000$6,157.00$12,314.00

Number format in Ethiopia

Mobile numbers in Ethiopia have 9 digits after +251. Locally they are written with a leading 0 (091 123 4567); in the API that 0 is dropped, so the same number goes in the to field as +251 91 123 4567.

Alphabet and segments

Text in Ge'ez is always Unicode, so a message to Ethiopia written in Amharic carries 70 characters in one segment and 67 in each part of a longer one. Codes and alerts written in English or plain Latin letters fit 160 characters, which halves the cost of a long notice.

Time zone and timing

Ethiopia keeps UTC+3 all year with no clock change, so 09:00 in Addis Ababa is always 06:00 UTC. send_at takes UTC or any ISO 8601 offset, and the console scheduler converts from your own time zone.

Send to Ethiopia with one request

The answer comes back at once with the message id, the country the number was matched to (ET) and the price. A delivered or failed event follows on your webhook, and a failed message is refunded.

For a list, send the same text to up to 10,000 numbers with POST /v1/batches, or a personal text per number in messages.

curl https://bulksmsapi.cc/v1/messages \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $BULKSMSAPI_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"to": "+251911234567", "text": "Your Northwind code is 482913. It expires in 10 minutes."}'

What developers send to Ethiopia

Common integrations that call the SMS API for recipients in Ethiopia.

Login codes

When users in Addis Ababa log into their mobile banking app, they receive a one-time code via SMS for secure access.

Payment alerts

After completing a transaction in a ride-hailing app, users in Dire Dawa receive a confirmation SMS with payment details.

Exam reminders

Students at universities in Bahir Dar receive SMS notifications about upcoming exam dates and room assignments.

Order updates

Customers in Hawassa receive SMS alerts when their online orders are dispatched from the local warehouse.

SMS to Ethiopia: questions

More answers on accounts, payments and the API are in the FAQ.

How much does it cost to send bulk SMS to Ethiopia?

Each message segment to Ethiopia costs $0.06157. A plain text of up to 160 characters is one segment, so 1,000 one-segment messages cost $61.57 and 10,000 cost $615.70. Failed messages are refunded to the balance.

How many SMS to Ethiopia does a $100 top-up send?

$100 covers about 1,624 one-segment messages to Ethiopia at $0.06157 each. The first top-up adds a bonus on top, which raises that number. The balance is shared by every country, so the same top-up also pays for messages anywhere else on the list.

How do I write Ethiopia numbers for the API?

Send them in international format with the plus sign: +251 91 123 4567 becomes "+251911234567" in the to field. The API also accepts spaces, dashes and a 00 prefix and cleans them, and numbers that cannot be read are listed in set_aside instead of being charged.

Which language should SMS messages be in?

Amharic is widely understood, but English is also effective, especially in urban areas and for formal communications. Use both languages for broader reach.

How can SMS reach rural areas?

SMS is ideal for rural regions where internet access is limited. Messages should be concise and relevant to local needs, such as agricultural updates.

Start sending to Ethiopia

Create an account, top up from $40 and send to Ethiopia at $0.06157 per segment, from the console or with one API call.

SMS API Ethiopia: Bulk SMS to +251 From $0.06157 | BulkSMSAPI