Bulk SMS Across East Africa — One Account for Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda

One platform for the whole region

If your business operates across East Africa — or wants to — you've probably faced this problem: every SMS provider says "we cover Uganda" or "we cover Kenya", but to actually send across borders you needed multiple accounts, multiple top-ups, multiple sender ID registrations.

That's changed. Yoola SMS supports SMS delivery to all of East Africa from a single account, a single Mobile Money top-up, and a single dashboard.

What countries does Yoola SMS cover?

East Africa (our home region)

• 🇺🇬 Uganda — MTN, Airtel, all networks
• 🇰🇪 Kenya — Safaricom, Airtel, Telkom
• 🇹🇿 Tanzania — Vodacom, Airtel, Tigo, Halotel, TTCL
• 🇷🇼 Rwanda — MTN, Airtel
• 🇸🇸 South Sudan — MTN, Zain
• 🇪🇹 Ethiopia — Ethio Telecom, Safaricom Ethiopia
• 🇨🇩 DR Congo — Vodacom, Airtel, Orange, Africell
• 🇧🇮 Burundi — Econet, Lumitel

Beyond East Africa

We also cover West Africa (Nigeria, Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire, Senegal), Southern Africa (South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi), North Africa (Egypt, Morocco) and international (UK, USA, UAE, India). Total: 40+ countries.

Real pricing per country (in credits)

Yoola SMS uses a credit system. 1 credit = 1 SMS to Uganda. Other countries use multiple credits depending on the route cost:

So if your credits cost UGX 25 each (Advanced tier), an SMS to Kenya costs UGX 75, to Nigeria UGX 125, to the UK UGX 200. See full coverage rates.

Why East African businesses need cross-border SMS

1. Diaspora communications

Ugandans living in Kenya, the UK, UAE, or USA receive bank notifications, family updates, money transfer confirmations. A Ugandan SACCO with members across the region needs cross-border SMS.

2. Cross-border e-commerce

Uganda-based businesses shipping to Kenya, Tanzania, or Rwanda need to send order confirmations, shipping updates, and delivery notifications in the local country.

3. NGOs and humanitarian operations

NGOs with offices across East Africa coordinate staff, beneficiaries, and field reports via SMS. Single account simplifies operations.

4. Regional fintech and banking

Banks and fintechs with East African presence send OTPs and transaction alerts to customers in multiple countries. Single API = simpler integration.

5. Education and remittance services

Universities with students from across the region, money transfer services, regional airlines — all need cross-border SMS.

How to send cross-border SMS through Yoola SMS

From the web dashboard, sending to multiple countries is identical to sending within Uganda — just include the destination country code in the phone numbers:

256712345678  ← Uganda
254712345678  ← Kenya
255712345678  ← Tanzania
250712345678  ← Rwanda
234812345678  ← Nigeria

Mix them freely in the same broadcast. Yoola SMS automatically routes each SMS through the correct carrier and charges the right credits.

From the API, same thing — pass any international phone number with country code, and we handle routing.

Sender IDs across borders

Important: branded sender IDs are network-specific and country-specific. A sender ID registered with MTN Uganda doesn't automatically work for Kenya or Tanzania. To use a branded sender across multiple countries:

• Register separately with each country's networks
• Or use Yoola SMS's shared sender ID for international SMS (less branded but works everywhere)

For most cross-border use cases, you can use:

• Your Uganda sender ID for Uganda SMS
• A numeric sender for cross-border (where allowed)
• "ATInfo" (our default shared sender) for general international SMS

Country-specific rules to know

Kenya

• Communications Authority (CA) requires sender ID registration for branded SMS
• Promotional SMS restricted to 8am-8pm local time
• Strict opt-out compliance enforced

Tanzania

• TCRA regulates sender IDs and promotional content
• VAT applies on SMS (18% currently)
• Some networks require advance approval for promotional content

Rwanda

• RURA oversees telecom communications
• Strict against spam — opt-out must be honored within 24 hours

Nigeria

• NCC requires DND (Do Not Disturb) list checking for promotional SMS
• Numbers on DND list can only receive transactional, not promotional
• Yoola SMS handles this filtering automatically when sending to Nigeria

UAE and Gulf countries

• TRA approval required for promotional SMS
• Some restrictions on sender ID names (no generic words like "ALERT")

The cost-saving angle: one account vs many

Before consolidating with Yoola SMS, a typical regional business might pay:

• Uganda SMS provider: UGX 50,000 minimum top-up
• Kenya SMS provider: KES 1,000 minimum (UGX 25,000)
• Tanzania SMS provider: TZS 25,000 minimum (UGX 35,000)
• Rwanda SMS provider: RWF 5,000 minimum (UGX 17,000)
• 4 separate dashboards, 4 separate developer integrations, 4 sets of sender ID applications

With Yoola SMS: one account, one top-up, one API, one dashboard, one support team. The operational savings often exceed the per-SMS cost difference.

Ready to go cross-border?

Start with a free Yoola SMS account. Send to Uganda first to test, then add international numbers when you're ready.

Create your free regional account →

Or see full coverage and country rates