Kenya · payments

Pay for AI APIs in Kenya with M-Pesa

The step-by-step M-Pesa path to fund a Fikra API wallet and call DeepSeek and other routes.

Direct answer

Yes. Fund the wallet with M-Pesa, Airtel Money or card at the Kenya checkout. Minimum $5; KES 136.99 is charged, KES 133 credits to your USD wallet. Set base_url to https://api.fikraapi.co.ke/v1 and start calling deepseek-v4.1-flash-1017.

How the Kenya checkout works

Step	What happens
1. Create account	Sign up at /account/signup and verify your email.
2. Choose method	Dashboard shows M-Pesa, Airtel Money and card.
3. Enter amount	Minimum $5. The UI shows: KES 136.99 charged, KES 133 credited.
4. Approve on your phone	M-Pesa and Airtel Money send an STK prompt. Card uses 3-D Secure.
5. Wallet credits	USD balance updates after the charge succeeds. Calls can start immediately.

If your card is declined

Foreign-merchant block: some issuers block AI or SaaS billing categories. Call your bank and ask them to allow the merchant.
3-D Secure timeout: approve the OTP within the window shown. If it expires, restart the checkout.
Insufficient balance: prepaid cards decline if the authorisation hold exceeds available funds. Use a card with enough headroom for the $5 minimum.
FX conversion fee: charges are in USD. Any cross-border or currency-conversion fee from your issuer appears on your bank statement, not on Fikra's side.

What to watch out for

Fikra checkout never asks for a PIN or one-time code. No support agent will ask for it either.
Anyone selling wallet top-ups without issuing you an API key is sharing accounts, not selling API access.
Crypto-only proxies with no public terms give no audit trail. For production use you need request IDs and a reconcilable ledger.
Confirm your intended route is listed at /v1/models before topping up more than $5.

How to get started in Kenya

Create an account at fikraapi.co.ke/account/signup and confirm your email.
Copy your fk_live_ key from the dashboard. It is shown once; store it safely.
Open the dashboard and choose M-Pesa, Airtel Money or card. Enter $5 or more. The screen shows the KES charge before you approve: KES 136.99 is charged, KES 133 credits to your USD wallet. M-Pesa and Airtel Money send a prompt to your phone; approve it and the wallet credits within seconds.
In any OpenAI-compatible client, set base_url to https://api.fikraapi.co.ke/v1 and model to deepseek-v4.1-flash-1017.
Run your first call. The dashboard shows your balance and each request's token cost.
Set a budget cap on the key before sharing it with teammates or deploying to production.

curl https://api.fikraapi.co.ke/v1/chat/completions \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_FIKRA_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"model":"deepseek-v4.1-flash-1017","messages":[{"role":"user","content":"Summarise this ticket in two lines."}]}'

Common questions

Can I pay from Kenya without a foreign credit card?

Yes. The Kenya checkout offers M-Pesa, Airtel Money and card. M-Pesa and Airtel Money send an STK prompt to your Safaricom or Airtel phone; approve it and the USD wallet credits. Minimum top-up is $5, charged as KES 136.99 (KES 133 credited at the KES 133 = $1 checkout rate). Mobile money is only available on the Kenya checkout.

How much do I need to start?

Minimum top-up is $5. Plans are prepaid per 30 days: Lite $10, Pro $25, Max $60. All plans include 3,000 requests per minute and 250,000 per day. The wallet balance is a hard cap — you cannot overspend it.

Which model should I use first?

Start with deepseek-v4.1-flash-1017 for text, code and summaries. It is the most-used route on the platform. Confirm it is listed at /v1/models, then compare against qwen3.8-27b (structured output) and glm-5.3-flash (high-volume code) on your own prompts before committing budget.

Does Fikra offer an SLA?

No. Self-serve plans are prepaid with no contractual SLA. Uptime is published at fikraapi.co.ke/status. If your project requires a committed uptime guarantee, contact support before you sign up.

Where do I see my usage and spend?

The dashboard shows your balance and per-key usage. Platform-wide stats are at fikraapi.co.ke/stats. Keep the request ID from each call if you need to reconcile a charge.

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