Meta, the parent company of WhatsApp, is set to introduce new per-message charges for businesses using the WhatsApp Business Platform from October 1, 2026.
Under the new pricing structure, Nigerian businesses will pay about ₦14 for certain service and utility messages sent to customers through the platform. Marketing messages will attract a higher charge.
The development does not mean ordinary Nigerians will start paying ₦14 whenever they send a WhatsApp message.
The new charges are targeted at businesses that use Meta’s official WhatsApp Business Platform to communicate with customers, including for customer service, transaction updates and other business-related messages.
The pricing change is part of Meta’s shift toward charging businesses based on individual messages rather than some of the previous conversation-based pricing arrangements.
For Nigerian companies handling large volumes of customer communications, the change could significantly increase their digital communication expenses.
BusinessDay reported that sending one million chargeable messages could cost a Nigerian business about ₦14 million based on the applicable rate.
Businesses that rely heavily on WhatsApp for promotions could face even higher costs because marketing messages are priced above service and utility messages.
The new system is therefore expected to have a bigger impact on companies that use WhatsApp extensively for customer engagement, sales and marketing.
However, people using WhatsApp normally to chat with friends, relatives and other individuals will not be required to pay a per-message fee under the new policy.
The development has already raised questions among Nigerian businesses about how the new charges could affect their operating costs and the price of customer communication.
