You can use Africa’s Talking provider to send SMS messages to your customers using the Novu platform with a single API to create multi-channel experiences.

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Getting Started

To use Africa’s Talking provider in the SMS channel, the first step is to create an Africa’s Talking account and add your API Key, username and Sender's ID to Africa’s Talking integration on the Novu platform.

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Creating a username

You’ll need to create an application to create a username in Africa’s Talking. To do so, follow the steps below:
  • Sign up or Log in to your Africa’s Talking account.
  • Select the team you want your app to be in.

    Select the team you want your app to be in.

  • If you’re a new user and don’t have a team yet, you’ll have to do so by clicking on New Team and entering your team name. Click on Save when you’re done.

    If you're a new user and don't have a team yet, you'll have to do so by clicking on New Team and entering your team name. Click on Save when you're done.

  • On the page that appears, click on the Create App button.
  • On the pop-up that appears, enter your application name, username and select a country. Then click Save. The username is what you will use on the Novu platform.

    Enter your application name, username and select a country

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Generating an API key

To generate a new API key, you can follow these steps:
Ensure you have created an app in your team.
- Click on the app you created.

Click on the app you created.

  • On the page that appears, click on Settings(on the menu on your left). This will display a dropdown. Click on API Key from the dropdown options.

Click on API Key from the dropdown options

  • On the page that appears, enter your password and click Generate.

Enter your password and click Generate.

  • Copy the API Key generated and paste it into the Novu platform or record it somewhere safe for later use because you will not see it from the dashboard on subsequent visits.
Once you’ve generated your API Key, wait about 3 minutes before testing it.

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Getting your Sender’s ID

Sender IDs allow you to brand your messages as you send them to your customers. There are two kinds of sender IDs, shortcodes and alphanumerics. The difference is that you can send and receive messages with shortcodes but only send messages with an alphanumeric. To create a Short Code:
  • On your app dashboard, click on SMS (on the menu on your left). This will display a dropdown. Click on Shortcodes from the dropdown options. This will also display a dropdown from which you can then click on My Shortcodes to view your codes.

    Click on `My Shortcodes` to view your codes

  • If you have not created one yet, on the Shortcodes dropdown option, click on Request. On the page that appears, fill in the form and submit.

    Fill in the form and submit to create shortcode

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To create an Alphanumeric:

  • On your app dashboard, click on SMS (on the menu on your left). This will display a dropdown. Click on Alphanumerics from the dropdown options. This will also display a dropdown from which you can then click on My Alphanumerics to view your codes.

    Click on `My Alphanumerics` to view your codes

  • If you have not created one yet, on the Alphanumerics dropdown option, click on Request. On the page that appears, fill in the form and submit

    Click on request, fill in the form and submit

  • Once you’re done, add either your short code or alphanumeric to the from field on the Novu platform.

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Creating an Africa’s Talking integration with Novu

  • Visit the Integrations page on Novu.
  • Click the “Add a provider” button.
  • Locate Africa’s Talking under the SMS section and click on the Connect button.
  • Enter the API key.
  • Fill in the username field.
  • Fill in the from field. This is your registered short code or alphanumeric value.
  • Click on the Disabled button and mark it as Active.
  • Click on the Connect button.
Now it is possible to send SMS notifications using Africa’s Talking in Novu.