The verdict in three sentences
In Thiès, most employees who write a lot already use ChatGPT or Gemini a little, but without a method, which produces generic text that has to be rewritten. With well-built prompts and a working system, professional documents take a third of the time, freeing 2 to 4 hours a week depending on the role. A 10-hour online course at 50,000 FCFA (76 EUR) is enough to set up that method, while an in-person workshop costs 75,000 to 150,000 FCFA.
Where Thiès employees lose their time
Thiès is home to regional administrations, schools and a university, donor-funded projects, rail and industrial firms and many SMEs. Everywhere the pattern is the same: meeting minutes written at night, a quarterly project report pieced together from ten emails, a staff memo redrafted three times, a 40-page document read just to extract two decisions.
| Recurring task | Time without AI (estimate) | Time with an AI method | Weekly saving |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meeting minutes (2 a week) | 2 h | 40 min | 1 h 20 |
| Sensitive or long emails (10 a week) | 1 h 30 | 30 min | 1 h |
| Monthly project report (per week) | 1 h 30 | 30 min | 1 h |
| Reading and summarising a 40-page document | 1 h | 20 min | 40 min |
| Planning the week | 30 min | 10 min | 20 min |
| Total | 6 h 30 | 2 h 10 | 4 h 20 |
These 2026 estimates for a writing-heavy role show a gain close to threefold. A more operational role will save about 2 hours a week. The condition is to reread and check every document: AI can invent a figure or a reference.
Tools and training: comparing the options
The tools themselves are accessible. Free versions of ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude or NotebookLM cover most writing and summarising needs. Paid plans cost around 20 USD a month, about 12,000 FCFA, and mainly help with heavy volumes or long documents. What is usually missing is method: how to phrase a request, what context to give, how to protect a department's or project's sensitive data.
| Option | 2026 cost (estimate) | Format | Exercises on your documents | Limitation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free AI tools alone | 0 FCFA | Self-taught | No | Generic output without method |
| Paid AI plan | about 12,000 FCFA a month | Tool | No | Does not fix the lack of method |
| In-person AI workshop | 75,000 to 150,000 FCFA | 1 to 2 days | Sometimes | One date, little follow-up |
| Free video tutorials | 0 FCFA excluding data | Scattered | No | Often marketing-oriented |
| Kolonell AI course | 50,000 FCFA | 10 h, 5 modules | Yes | Needs 2 to 3 weeks of practice |
The course Rédiger, analyser et organiser son travail avec l'IA (write, analyse and organise your work with AI, taught in French) is level 2 of the artificial intelligence track, beginner level: 10 hours, five modules (prompting techniques, professional documents, analysing documents and emails, organising ideas and presentations, a daily AI work system), 50,000 FCFA (76 EUR) and a certificate. You leave with about twenty tested prompts and your own templates. The Artificial intelligence track bundles five levels for 350,000 FCFA instead of 450,000. Payment by Wave or Orange Money.
Rules that keep you out of trouble
Using AI at work needs a few reflexes. Never paste personal data about service users, pupils or beneficiaries into a public tool, in line with Senegal's 2008 personal data law. Check every figure and quotation. Keep your own voice: a report for a school inspector or a donor must remain yours. The course devotes a full section to these rules.
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.
Mariama, 34, a monitoring and evaluation officer on a farming project based in Thiès, writes a 15-page monthly report and two sets of minutes a week. She estimates this takes 7 hours a week. After the 50,000 FCFA course, she gets it down to about 3 hours. Saving: 4 hours a week, roughly 16 hours a month. Valuing her hour at 2,500 FCFA (a 400,000 FCFA salary over 160 hours), that is 40,000 FCFA of time recovered each month: the course pays for itself in just over a month, not counting the evenings freed. Illustrative estimate, with no guaranteed result.
FAQ
Do I need to pay for an AI subscription?
Not to start: the free versions cover most of the 5 modules. A plan at around 20 USD a month becomes useful beyond about ten long documents a week.
Will AI replace my job?
Nobody can guarantee it either way. In 2026, it is mostly employees who know how to use it who save 2 to 4 hours a week and take on higher-value tasks.
My documents are confidential. Is it risky?
Yes, if you paste everything without thinking. The course shows how to anonymise and which settings to enable, so you never expose service users' data.
How long until I am efficient?
The course lasts 10 hours. Most participants apply the method to their real documents from the second week.
How do I pay?
By Wave or Orange Money: 50,000 FCFA for this level, or 350,000 FCFA instead of 450,000 for the full track.
Take the next step. Enroll in Rédiger, analyser et organiser son travail avec l'IA: 10 hours, 50,000 FCFA, certificate included. 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.
