Meta To Charge Nigerian Businesses ₦14 Per WhatsApp Message From October

Meta, the parent company of WhatsApp, is set to introduce a new messaging charge for businesses using the WhatsApp Business Platform to communicate with Nigerian phone numbers.

Under the new pricing structure, businesses could pay about ₦14 per message sent to Nigerian numbers from October 1, 2026.

The development will affect organisations that use WhatsApp as part of their customer engagement and business operations, rather than ordinary WhatsApp users.

Businesses expected to be affected include banks, fintech companies, telecommunications operators, retailers and e-commerce platforms that rely on the WhatsApp Business Platform to provide customer support, send transaction alerts, confirm orders and promote products and services.

However, ordinary WhatsApp users will not be required to pay a fee for sending or receiving messages on the platform.

The proposed charge is part of Meta’s business messaging pricing model, under which businesses are billed for certain messages sent through the WhatsApp Business Platform.

The new cost could increase the expenses of businesses that rely heavily on WhatsApp for customer communication, particularly financial institutions and e-commerce companies that send large volumes of notifications and promotional messages.

For Nigerian consumers, however, the change is not expected to result in a direct per-message charge when communicating with friends, family or other WhatsApp users.

Businesses operating on the WhatsApp Business Platform may therefore need to review their messaging strategies and budgets ahead of the proposed October implementation.

The development underscores the growing commercial importance of WhatsApp as a customer-service and marketing channel for businesses in Nigeria and other emerging markets.