The verdict in three sentences
In Thiès as elsewhere in Senegal, repetitive tasks (quotes, reminders, reports, WhatsApp replies) eat 5 to 10 hours a week for an office employee or an SME manager. The tools to automate them are free or cost 10 to 20 USD a month, and they are set up without writing a single line of code. A 20-hour course at 100,000 FCFA (about 152 EUR) is enough to automate your own job, then sell assignments worth 150,000 to 500,000 FCFA to local SMEs.
Which tasks to automate, and how much time you save
The estimates below concern an office or sales job in an SME in Thiès (distribution, transport, construction, private school). They depend on the actual volume of each task.
| Repetitive task | Manual time per week | No-code tool | Time after automation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unpaid invoice reminders | 2 h | Google Sheets + Gmail + Make | 15 min of checking |
| Writing quotes from a request | 3 h | Form + AI assistant + template | 45 min |
| Weekly sales report | 2 h | Google Sheets + AI summary | 20 min |
| Answering frequent WhatsApp questions | 3 h | WhatsApp Business + quick replies + AI | 1 h |
| Sorting and filing emails | 1.5 h | Gmail filters + Zapier | 20 min |
| Meeting minutes | 1 h | Transcription + AI summary | 15 min |
In total, you go from about 12.5 hours to just over 3 hours: nearly 9 hours recovered each week, at the upper end of what most participants observe.
Cost of tools and training in 2026
The course Automate your work with AI, without writing code, taught in French, is level 4 Career of the Artificial intelligence track. It assumes you already use ChatGPT or Gemini for writing; otherwise, levels 1 to 3 cover those basics.
| Expense | 2026 price | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Google Sheets, Gmail, Google Forms | 0 FCFA | Enough to get started |
| Make (free plan) | 0 FCFA | 1,000 operations per month |
| Make or Zapier (paid plan) | 10 to 20 USD/month, about 6,000 to 12,500 FCFA | For regular professional use |
| Paid AI assistant (ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude) | 20 USD/month, about 12,500 FCFA | Optional, free versions often suffice |
| Kolonell level 4 Career course | 100,000 FCFA, 20 h | Portfolio of 8 automations, certificate |
| Full AI track (5 levels) | 350,000 FCFA instead of 450,000 | Up to the AI consultant job |
| Classroom AI training in Dakar | 200,000 to 400,000 FCFA | Plus Thiès-Dakar travel |
The final project is to automate a complete process of your business, from the customer request to the invoice, and to build a portfolio of 8 automations to show an employer or a client.
Selling automation assignments to SMEs in Thiès
Once your own job is automated, the skill can be sold. The rates below are 2026 orders of magnitude for Senegalese SMEs, excluding large companies.
| Typical assignment | Billed price (estimate) | Delivery time |
|---|---|---|
| Automatic invoice reminders | 150,000 to 200,000 FCFA | 1 to 2 days |
| Automatic quotes from a form | 200,000 to 350,000 FCFA | 2 to 3 days |
| Sales dashboard with AI report | 200,000 to 300,000 FCFA | 2 days |
| WhatsApp assistant for frequent questions | 250,000 to 500,000 FCFA | 3 to 5 days |
| Monthly maintenance of automations | 25,000 to 75,000 FCFA/month | 2 to 4 h 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.
Ibrahima, 35, runs a small building materials distribution company in Thiès with 4 employees. His secretary spends about 8 hours a week on quotes and reminders. Ibrahima takes the course (100,000 FCFA) and sets up a form linked to Google Sheets, an AI-drafted quote template and automatic reminders through Make (free plan). Time recovered: 6 hours a week, about 26 hours a month. At a loaded hourly cost of 1,500 FCFA, that is 39,000 FCFA a month, and above all invoices chased on time. The course pays for itself in under 3 months, before even counting recovered unpaid invoices.
FAQ
Do I need to know how to code?
No. Everything is done by drag and drop in Make or Zapier and by written instructions to AI assistants. You do need to be comfortable with Google Sheets, at the level of a simple table with a few formulas.
Do the tools work with an average connection in Thiès?
Yes, automations run on the tools' servers, not on your phone. A 4G connection is enough to set them up, about 2 GB for the whole course.
Is my customer data safe?
A full module covers data protection and Senegal's law 2008-12. You learn never to send sensitive data to a public AI assistant and to restrict access.
How long to finish the 20 hours?
At 3 hours a week, count 6 to 7 weeks. Many participants automate a first task in the second week.
How do I pay?
By Wave or Orange Money: 100,000 FCFA for this level, or 350,000 FCFA for the 5 levels of the AI track instead of 450,000 FCFA.
Take the next step. Enroll in Automate your work with AI, without writing code: 20 h online, taught in French, 100,000 FCFA, verifiable 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.
