SMS API for Nigeria: bulk SMS to +234 numbers

Nigeria, located in West Africa, has Abuja as its capital and Lagos as its largest city, known for its oil industry, agriculture, and tech startups. Developers integrate SMS into systems like mobile banking, e-commerce platforms, and ride-hailing apps. Messages are triggered by events such as transaction alerts, order confirmations, or ride updates. SMS is chosen because it reaches all mobile phones, works without internet, and is quickly read by users across urban and rural areas.

Nigeria

Calling code +234

Per SMS segment
$0.01977
Messages for $100
5,058
Local language
English
Encoding
GSM-7

What a bulk SMS send to Nigeria costs

Every message is priced at $0.01977 per segment to Nigeria. 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$0.01977$0.03954
1,000$19.77$39.54
10,000$197.70$395.40
100,000$1,977.00$3,954.00

Number format in Nigeria

Mobile numbers in Nigeria have 10 digits after +234. Locally they are written with a leading 0 (0802 123 4567); in the API that 0 is dropped, so the same number goes in the to field as +234 802 123 4567.

Alphabet and segments

English text stays inside the GSM-7 alphabet, so one segment to Nigeria holds 160 characters and each part of a longer text 153. Watch for curly quotes and emoji copied from other tools: one of them moves the whole text to Unicode at 70 characters per segment, and POST /v1/estimates shows the encoding before you send.

Time zone and timing

Nigeria keeps UTC+1 all year with no clock change, so 09:00 in Lagos is always 08:00 UTC. send_at takes UTC or any ISO 8601 offset, and the console scheduler converts from your own time zone.

Send to Nigeria with one request

The answer comes back at once with the message id, the country the number was matched to (NG) 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": "+2348021234567", "text": "Your Northwind code is 482913. It expires in 10 minutes."}'

What developers send to Nigeria

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

Transaction alerts

Banks in Lagos send SMS notifications to customers for every withdrawal or deposit made on their accounts.

Order confirmations

E-commerce platforms in Abuja send SMS confirmations to customers with details of their purchases and delivery timelines.

Ride updates

Ride-hailing apps in Port Harcourt notify drivers and passengers via SMS about ride status and estimated arrival times.

Exam results

Universities in Ibadan send SMS notifications to students with their exam results and further instructions.

SMS to Nigeria: questions

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

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

Each message segment to Nigeria costs $0.01977. A plain text of up to 160 characters is one segment, so 1,000 one-segment messages cost $19.77 and 10,000 cost $197.70. Failed messages are refunded to the balance.

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

$100 covers about 5,058 one-segment messages to Nigeria at $0.01977 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 Nigeria numbers for the API?

Send them in international format with the plus sign: +234 802 123 4567 becomes "+2348021234567" 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.

What language should SMS messages be sent in?

English is widely spoken and understood, making it the best choice for SMS campaigns. For localized audiences, Hausa, Yoruba, or Igbo can also be used.

How can businesses reach visitors effectively?

Visitors often use local SIM cards, so SMS is an effective way to communicate with them. Messages can include English for broader accessibility.

Start sending to Nigeria

Create an account, top up from $40 and send to Nigeria at $0.01977 per segment, from the console or with one API call.

SMS API Nigeria: Bulk SMS to +234 From $0.01977 | BulkSMSAPI