The verdict in three sentences
Forty seats of a European SaaS at EUR 35 per user per month cost about 11 million FCFA a year (roughly USD 19,700), before international card fees and price increases. A custom business platform costs 15 to 35 million FCFA (USD 27,000 to 63,000) and pays back in 2 to 3 years for a 120-employee company in Dakar. Beyond price, custom brings locally hosted data, a French-language interface suited to local teams and native Wave and Orange Money integration.
For New York investors, board members and diaspora executives overseeing West African portfolio companies, this is a recurring line item worth challenging.
The true cost of a euro-billed SaaS from Dakar
The CEO sees a licence line. The CFO sees more: international card payments with FX fees, card limits to manage, add-on modules billed separately, annual price increases and a local integrator to adapt the tool. At the fixed rate of 655.957 FCFA per euro, here is the 2026 ballpark.
| Annual item (40 users) | Amount in euros | Amount in FCFA |
|---|---|---|
| Licences at EUR 35 per user per month | EUR 16,800 | 11,020,000 FCFA |
| Bank and FX fees (2.5 to 4%) | EUR 420 to 670 | 275,000 to 440,000 FCFA |
| Add-on modules (reporting, API, SSO) | EUR 1,500 to 3,000 | 985,000 to 1,970,000 FCFA |
| Annual price increase (5 to 8%) | EUR 840 to 1,350 | 550,000 to 885,000 FCFA |
| Setup and support by a local integrator | EUR 760 to 1,520 | 500,000 to 1,000,000 FCFA |
| Realistic annual total | EUR 20,300 to 23,300 | 13,300,000 to 15,300,000 FCFA |
On top of that come hidden costs: features useless for the Senegalese market, no mobile money, support on European hours and data hosted outside Senegal, while Law 2008-12 regulates transfers of personal data.
What a custom platform costs in Dakar
| Scope | 2026 build budget | Timeline | Annual maintenance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Simple operations management (cases, customers, tasks) | 15 to 20 million FCFA | 3 to 4 months | 2 to 3 million FCFA |
| Platform with invoicing and Wave or Orange Money payments | 20 to 27 million FCFA | 4 to 5 months | 3 to 4 million FCFA |
| Multi-site platform, advanced roles, executive reporting | 25 to 32 million FCFA | 5 to 6 months | 3.5 to 4.5 million FCFA |
| Platform integrated with ERP, payroll and bank | 30 to 35 million FCFA | 6 to 7 months | 4 to 5 million FCFA |
| Cloud or local datacenter hosting | 0.6 to 1.5 million FCFA per year | Included | Recurring |
| Team training and change management | 0.8 to 2 million FCFA | 2 to 4 weeks | One-off |
The company owns the source code, the number of users no longer affects cost and every enhancement is decided locally.
When to stay with the foreign SaaS
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SaaS remains the right choice if you have fewer than 15 users, if the tool is a global standard (email, office suite, a well-adopted generic CRM), or if your business changes too fast to lock in processes. Custom is justified when the software carries your core business, your teams work around the tool with Excel and WhatsApp, and the euro bill exceeds 8 to 10 million FCFA a year.
Mini case study
Moussa, CEO of a distribution company in Dakar (120 employees), pays for 40 seats of a European sales management tool. Real cost measured by his CFO: 12.5 million FCFA a year, fees and modules included. His sales reps re-key Wave and Orange Money collections by hand.
The chosen custom platform costs 22 million FCFA (about USD 39,000), with built-in mobile collections, plus 2.5 million in maintenance and 0.9 million in hosting per year, which is 3.4 million in annual cost. Savings: 9.1 million FCFA a year, meaning payback in 2 years and 5 months. Over 5 years, total cost drops from 62.5 million FCFA on SaaS to 39 million on custom, not counting the 15 weekly hours of re-keying eliminated.
FAQ
Is custom riskier than a recognised SaaS? Risk is controlled through a short specification, deliveries every two weeks and code ownership. A project split into 2 to 3 month phases limits exposure to 8 to 12 million FCFA per step.
Can data be hosted in Senegal? Yes, in a local datacenter or with a host present in Dakar, for 50,000 to 125,000 FCFA a month. This eases compliance with Law 2008-12 and the requirements of the CDP, Senegal's data protection authority.
How do you integrate Wave and Orange Money? Through their merchant APIs, with automatic payment confirmation by webhook. Integration costs 1.5 to 3 million FCFA and removes manual re-keying of collections.
What if the vendor disappears? Require the source code in your own repository, technical documentation and a standard stack (Next.js, PostgreSQL). Another developer can then take over the platform in 2 to 4 weeks.
Can we migrate data from the current SaaS? Most SaaS tools allow CSV or API export. Count 1 to 2.5 million FCFA for a clean migration of customers, history and documents.
Let's scope your project. Tell us your number of users, current SaaS bill and key processes: we will price the custom platform in FCFA (with USD equivalents), including indicative budget, timeline and payback calculation. Detailed quote within 48 h. 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.
