specification: FinOps Framework
specificationVersion: '1.0'
schema: https://www.finops.org/framework/
provider: Africa's Talking
providerId: africastalking
created: '2026-06-20'
modified: '2026-06-20'
reconciled: false
tags:
- Communications
- SMS
- USSD
- Voice
- Airtime
- Mobile Data
- Payments
- Africa
- FinOps
- Cost Management
- FOCUS
description: >-
  FinOps view of Africa's Talking spend. Africa's Talking is prepaid and
  usage-metered: an account wallet is topped up and drawn down per SMS sent,
  per USSD session, per Voice minute/leg, per Airtime and Mobile Data
  disbursement, and per Payments transaction fee. Per-unit rates vary by
  country and carrier and are quoted in local currency, so unit costs are not
  reconciled here.
notes: >-
  Per-country, per-carrier rates change frequently; pull them from the pricing
  pages and the account dashboard during reconciliation. Multi-currency wallet
  balances complicate FOCUS BillingCurrency normalization.
sources:
- https://africastalking.com/pricing
- https://developers.africastalking.com
- https://focus.finops.org/focus-specification/v1-3/
alignedWith:
  framework: FinOps Foundation Framework
  frameworkUrl: https://www.finops.org/framework/
  dataSpec: FOCUS
  dataSpecVersion: '1.3'
  dataSpecUrl: https://focus.finops.org/focus-specification/v1-3/
publisherName: Africa's Talking
serviceCategory: Communications
billingModel:
  pricingCategory: Usage-Based
  billingFrequency: Prepaid
  billingCurrency: Multi-Currency
  chargeCategories:
  - Usage
  - Purchase
  - Adjustment
focusColumns:
  ServiceName: Africa's Talking
  ServiceCategory: Communications
  ProviderName: Africa's Talking
  PublisherName: Africa's Talking
  InvoiceIssuerName: Africa's Talking
  BillingCurrency: Local (varies by country)
  ChargeCategory: Usage
  PricingCategory: Usage-Based
meters:
- name: sms_messages
  description: SMS messages sent, billed per message at a per-country, per-carrier rate.
  unit: messages
  aggregation: sum
  dimensions:
  - account
  - country
  - shortCode
- name: premium_sms_messages
  description: Premium SMS messages with revenue share, billed per message.
  unit: messages
  aggregation: sum
  dimensions:
  - account
  - country
  - keyword
- name: ussd_sessions
  description: USSD sessions billed per session by country and short code.
  unit: sessions
  aggregation: sum
  dimensions:
  - account
  - country
  - serviceCode
- name: voice_minutes
  description: Voice usage billed per minute or per leg by country and direction.
  unit: minutes
  aggregation: sum
  dimensions:
  - account
  - country
  - direction
- name: airtime_value
  description: Airtime distributed, billed at face value plus carrier margin.
  unit: currency
  aggregation: sum
  dimensions:
  - account
  - country
  - carrier
- name: mobile_data_bundles
  description: Mobile data bundles disbursed, billed per bundle by quantity and validity.
  unit: bundles
  aggregation: sum
  dimensions:
  - account
  - country
  - carrier
- name: payments_transaction_fees
  description: Payments transaction fees (percentage or flat) per mobile money transaction.
  unit: transactions
  aggregation: sum
  dimensions:
  - account
  - country
  - provider
principles:
- name: Visibility
  description: Pull wallet top-up and usage statements per product and country from the dashboard.
- name: Allocation
  description: Use distinct usernames/API keys and product names per workload to map spend to cost centers.
- name: Optimization
  description: Use dedicated short codes for high-volume SMS, enqueue large batches, and select cheaper carriers/countries where possible.
- name: Accountability
  description: Monitor multi-currency wallet balances and review per-country per-unit burn against budget regularly.
maintainers:
- FN: Kin Lane
  email: kin@apievangelist.com