The verdict in three sentences
In Saint-Louis, an administrative officer or accountant who can connect Google Sheets, Gmail, Make or Zapier and an AI assistant can win back 4 to 10 hours a week on repetitive tasks. Kolonell Academy's Automate your work with AI course (100,000 FCFA, 20 h, no code) has you build processes that run on their own, with human validation and documentation. It is aimed at people who already use ChatGPT or Gemini and want to move from copy-paste to real automations, for their own job or for client SMEs.
Which tasks to automate in a Saint-Louis office
In a district town hall, an accounting firm in Sor, an NGO working in the river valley or an association on the island, the same tasks come back every week: logging requests, preparing quotes, chasing invoices, writing minutes, answering the same WhatsApp questions. They are ideal candidates, provided you pick the right ones.
| Repetitive task | Manual time per week | No-code automation | Remaining time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Logging form requests | 2 h | Google Forms to Google Sheets, AI classification | 15 min of checks |
| Preparing quotes | 3 h | Form to Google Docs template, PDF by email | 30 min of approval |
| Chasing unpaid invoices | 1.5 h | Make scenario with dated email | 10 min |
| Meeting minutes | 2 h | Custom AI assistant with in-house template | 30 min of proofreading |
| Answering frequent WhatsApp questions | 3 h | AI-suggested replies, approved by a human | 1 h |
| Sorting 200 rows of beneficiaries or clients | 4 h | Batch processing in Google Sheets with AI | 30 min |
The course Automate your work with AI, without writing code (taught in French) follows this order across eight modules: choosing what to automate, custom AI assistants (GPTs, Claude Projects, Gems), Google Sheets and AI on hundreds of rows, multi-step Make and Zapier scenarios, automatic documents and emails, customer handling on WhatsApp Business, AI agents with guardrails, then reliability and maintenance. You deliver 8 projects, including a scored map of 20 tasks and three scenarios that actually run.
Comparing ways to learn automation in 2026
| Option | Indicative 2026 price | Duration | Practice on Senegalese cases | Certificate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kolonell "Automate your work with AI" (level 4) | 100,000 FCFA (about 152 EUR) | 20 h, self-paced | Yes: FCFA quotes, WhatsApp, local SMEs | Yes |
| In-person AI workshop in Dakar | 150,000 to 350,000 FCFA plus 15,000 FCFA round-trip transport | 1 to 3 days | Often demos, little hands-on building | Attestation |
| International Make or Zapier courses | 60,000 to 200,000 FCFA | 10 to 30 h, in English | US or European examples | Yes |
| Free YouTube tutorials | 0 FCFA (plus data) | Unstructured | Rarely adapted to FCFA or WhatsApp | No |
| Provider who automates for you | 150,000 to 500,000 FCFA per process | 1 to 3 weeks | Yes, but you cannot maintain it | No |
This course is level 4 of the Artificial Intelligence track. Level 3, "Generative AI for professionals", is recommended first if you have never written a structured prompt. The full five-level track costs 350,000 FCFA instead of 450,000 FCFA bought individually. Payment by Wave or Orange Money.
On tools, the exercises run on the free plans of Make, Zapier and Google. For regular use, budget an order of magnitude of 6,000 to 20,000 FCFA a month depending on volume.
What automation can earn you
Indicative 2026 orders of magnitude.
| Use | Indicative gain or income |
|---|---|
| For your own job | 4 to 10 h saved per week depending on volume |
| Value of time saved, 250,000 FCFA monthly salary | 25,000 to 60,000 FCFA of time freed per month |
| Simple automation for an SME (quotes, reminders) | 150,000 to 400,000 FCFA per project |
| Complete process (WhatsApp intake, follow-up, reporting) | 400,000 FCFA and up |
| Monthly maintenance billed to a client | 25,000 to 75,000 FCFA per month |
Mini case study
Learn this skill with Kolonell Academy
Short, practical online courses (taught in French), graded exercises, certificate. Pay with Wave or Orange Money.
Fatou, 34, accountant at a Saint-Louis firm, spends about 7 h a week preparing quotes, chasing invoices and logging documents sent over WhatsApp. She takes the course (100,000 FCFA) over six weeks, 3 to 4 h a week.
- She automates quotes and reminders and saves about 5 h a week, i.e. 20 h a month.
- The firm assigns her two additional clients with no extra hours.
- On the side, she sets up a quote generator for a nearby hardware store, billed 200,000 FCFA (order of magnitude, fictional scenario).
- Payback: a single project covers the course twice.
FAQ
Do I need to know how to code?
No. Everything is built by drag and drop in Make and Zapier, with forms, spreadsheets and document templates. When a need truly requires development, the course tells you and gives you the questions to ask a provider.
Can I take the course on my phone?
Not the practical part: automation tools are configured on a computer with a stable connection. A free Google account is enough to start, and Make and Zapier accounts are created in module 4.
Is my data safe?
Module 8 covers reliability: human approval before sending, limited access, documentation. You also learn which data never to give to an AI tool.
How long does it take to finish?
The 20 hours take 5 to 7 weeks at 3 or 4 h a week, including building the 8 projects.
How do I pay from Saint-Louis?
With Wave or Orange Money, in FCFA. Course access opens as soon as payment is confirmed.
Take the next step. Enroll in Automate your work with AI, without writing code: 20 h online, 8 projects, 100,000 FCFA, Kolonell Academy certificate. Pay with Wave or Orange Money. Questions? WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.
