UGC Is Live - Meet The Human Ad Network
The wait is over. UGC is opening its doors to creators and advertisers across Africa. Here is what it is, how it works, and why it matters
700+ creators and advertisers - across Nigeria, the UK, Kenya, Ghana, SA and the United States - signed up before a single campaign existed.
Today that changes.
UGC - The Human Ad Network - is now open.
Here's everything.
The problem we're solving
Advertising in Africa is broken in a very specific way.
Brands spend money on creator campaigns and get almost no proof that anyone actually watched. Agencies inflate metrics. Bots farm views. CPMs are negotiated on trust, not data.
And creators - real people with real, loyal audiences - get shut out because the industry only counts followers, not reach.
A creator with 800 followers in Accra, Ghana whose audience actually watches their content is worth more to a brand than an account with 80,000 ghost followers. But the current system has no way to measure that.
The unit of value in advertising should be a view - verified, real, and rewarded.
That's what UGC is built to count.
How UGC works
UGC connects brands to creators across Africa through a simple loop:
- A brand funds a campaign - sets a budget, a CPM rate, and the content brief
- Creators browse open campaigns - pick what fits their audience and voice
- They post on TikTok, Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts and/or more, UGC tracks the verified view count via official platform APIs
- The creator's wallet is credited at the agreed CPM rate
- They withdraw in USD - no agent, no invoice, no 30-day wait
Brand gets reach. Creator gets paid. Every view is counted.
Who it's for
If you create content in Africa - you don't need a talent agent or a massive following to earn from brands. You need real views and a UGC account. There is no follower minimum.
Supported platforms at launch: TikTok, Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, WhatsApp & Snapchat (more platforms are already in the pipeline).
If you're a brand or agency - you get a real-time dashboard: views by creator, by platform, by day. No estimates. No guesswork. A campaign budget that moves in proportion to actual reach.
If you're a developer building for brands - UGC is API-first from day one. Full REST API, webhooks, and documentation are coming with the developer programme. If you want early API access or want to build as a partner, reach out at [email protected].
Built for Africa. Ready for the world.
Nigeria. Kenya. Ghana. Egypt. South Africa. The youngest social media population on the planet - and almost no infrastructure to monetise creator reach at scale.
UGC is that infrastructure.
We're starting on the continent, but the model works anywhere the gap between creator value and creator pay exists. Which is most of the world.
Waitlist subscribers: you go first
If you signed up at ugc.africa before today, you're not waiting any longer.
Waitlist subscribers already got:
- First access to the portal before public registration opens
- First pick of opening campaigns before they fill up
- Founding creator and advertiser status on your profile
Check your inbox. If you missed your invite, check your spam folder or email us at [email protected].
What's next
The platform launches in phases. After the initial open:
- Full public API and developer documentation so agencies and tool builders can integrate natively
- Developer partner programme - earn by building on UGC infrastructure
- Additional African payment rails - more withdrawal options, more countries
- Campaign advance analytics - deeper breakdowns per creator and per platform
- Advertiser self-serve campaign builder - fund and launch without contacting us
We're building in public. Follow at @UGCapp_ or join us as creator or advertiser at ugc.africa.
A note from the founder
I bought ugc.africa and said publicly: this either becomes something, or that tweet becomes the most expensive joke of my life.
I also knew from the start that I wasn't just building this for other brands.
One of my other projects needs to reach people across Africa and help them understand digital tools. Instead of paying an agency, DEED will fund campaigns on UGC directly. Our own creators. Our own CPM. Our own dashboard.
If the platform isn't good enough for my own money, it isn't good enough to ship. That's the standard we built to.
UGC is live. Come build with us.
Written by