Your first online order paid through Wave within 30 days, with no website and no ad budget
A WhatsApp store run with the method from this course (10 products, an average order around 15,000 FCFA (about $25), floor prices at a 35% net margin) typically handles 20 to 100 orders a month depending on the catalog and the time invested, which means 300,000 to 1,500,000 FCFA (about $500 to $2,500) in monthly revenue and 100,000 to 500,000 FCFA (about $170 to $830) in net margin before tax. The case study followed throughout the course also shows where lost money goes: the anti-dispute process from module 3 brings losses (refused parcels, fake screenshots) down from more than 5% to less than 1% of revenue, and the published delivery rate card from module 4 turns 32,000 FCFA of monthly losses into 1,000 FCFA. These are orders of magnitude observed in Dakar in 2026; results depend on the product, consistency and local competition.
Indicative estimate, depending on your market, pace and work. No income is guaranteed.
Who it is for: Shop owners, creators, store managers, resellers and SME managers who want to sell online in Dakar, in the regions, in Côte d'Ivoire or to the diaspora.
A module-by-module path: lessons, exercises, quizzes and projects to submit.
Module 1· 13 exercises
Decide on a starter catalog, a target customer and a price grid that leaves a margin after fees and delivery.
Module 2· 13 exercises
Choose the right channel for your means and set it up properly: catalog, business hours, quick replies, page or website.
Module 3· 12 exercises
Set up payment collection, proof of payment and the rules that prevent unpaid orders, fake screenshots and disputes.
Module 4· 12 exercises
Build a profitable delivery rate card, choose your couriers and carriers, and handle returns.
Module 5· 13 exercises
Write product listings and WhatsApp scripts that answer objections and turn questions into orders.
Module 6· 12 exercises
Set up sales tracking, bring customers back, and decide when and how to move to the next stage.
Certificate included
A numbered certificate with your validated skills, a public page and a verification QR code. Add it to LinkedIn in one click.
Certificate of skills
Your name
has completed and validated the course
E-commerce: selling online in Senegal and French-speaking Africa
Certified skills
Number KOL-CERT-2026-XXXXX
Mohamed Bah
Founder, Kolonell Academy
Download the poster to print it, send it to your employer or share it with colleagues. The full programme details every module.
This course is part of the track
Level 2 of 5 · Practical
See the 5 track levelsNext level · 3/5 Advanced
A specialty you can bill for
Your online store open for business, with 20 products, mobile money payments and your first orders tracked
75,000 FCFA 14 h
View the next levelYour instructor
Founder of Kolonell, a digital agency in Dakar. He builds websites, online stores and business applications for SMEs in Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire and Dubai, and supports them as they collect their first online payments.
No. Module 1 has you choose 10 starter products from what you sell or can source, scoring each one on four criteria (photo, delivery, price, repeat purchase). Some sell made to order or on pre-order, and module 3 gives you the matching deposit rule (50% before production for custom orders, full payment before shipping for the regions). You build up stock later, when the tracking sheet from module 6 tells you at how many orders per month it becomes profitable.
About ten hours in total: roughly 7 hours of lessons, a 10 to 20 minute exercise at the end of each lesson applied to your store, and two projects to submit (one hour for the payment process, three hours for the ready-to-sell store). At 2 to 3 hours a week, you finish in four to five weeks. If you do every exercise with your real products, your catalog, scripts and delivery rate card are live before the end of module 5, which leaves time to collect a first order within 30 days.
You pay through Wave or Orange Money. When you sign up, you receive a pro forma invoice with the amount (50,000 FCFA, about $83) and the number to send it to. Once payment is received, your access is activated within 24 hours, often in under an hour during business hours. Module 1 is free to view before you pay, and access is for life, updates included.
Yes. Once you have completed the lessons and passed all six quizzes, you receive a numbered Kolonell Academy certificate with a public verification page, a PDF and a breakdown of the certified skills. An "Add to profile" button places it directly in the Licenses & certifications section of LinkedIn. The "Capstone project validated" mention is added once your ready-to-sell store has been reviewed and approved.
Not before the numbers demand it. Lesson 4 of module 2 gives you five signals (order volume, team, customers who don't know you, time spent answering, orders from outside Dakar): three of them green for three months justify asking for quotes, which you compare on ten must-have features and six questions. You also calculate how many months of net margin a website of around 1,400,000 FCFA (about $2,330) represents. Until then, WhatsApp Business, a Facebook page, an Instagram shop and a Google listing do the job for free. Kolonell builds e-commerce websites with Wave and Orange Money payments, but this course first teaches you to sell without one.
Via Wave or Orange Money. After enrolling you receive a pro forma invoice by email with the number to pay. Send the proof on WhatsApp: your access is activated within 24 business hours.
For life, updates included. Learn at your own pace and revisit lessons as often as you need.
Complete the lessons and pass each module quiz with at least 70%. The certificate is generated automatically, with a unique number and a public verification page.
50,000 FCFA · 76 €
Practical