In July 2026, Meta announced that it will start charging businesses using the official WhatsApp Business Platform (API) in October. For many, this additional cost will threaten their relation
In July 2026, Meta announced that it will start charging businesses using the official WhatsApp Business Platform (API) in October. For many, this additional cost will threaten their relationship with the messaging platform.
Adebo Adegboye David, founder of Adebwebs Technologies, sees this as a needless burden. WhatsApp Business users already cover mobile data costs, and paying to send messages may be a little too much.
He also sees the market entry opportunity: Adebo and his team have created ChatPaddi, a counter-response that performs everything the Meta messaging app does. The app is more than just a messaging app. The founder describes it as an attempt to make Africans free from foreign dependency.
“Reading about WhatsApp trying to charge Africans and not their Western contemporaries shows that we are not a priority and we are not determining factors in any of their products. That’s what brought about ChatPaddi,” he explained.
ChatPaddi’s interface
Currently, global platforms, including payment processors like PayPal and social apps like TikTok, routinely restrict African users due to geographical and security considerations.
Adebo noted that African users are treated as optional consumers rather than stakeholders in foreign platforms. With this, African founders and everyday users are battling systemic discrimination and geographic blacklisting.
“I’ve seen a whole lot of experiences where we are being gated with information,” Adebo added. While he acknowledged that there are a “few bad eggs,” he noted that corrective measures shouldn’t be generalised.
With ChatPaddi, he is providing a platform that gives Africans full sovereignty over their monetisation, identity, and data.
This is not his first rodeo. Previously, Adebo David has built other digital platforms to replace fragmented legacy platforms across the continent. These include 9jafinder, Identifyorg, Salesgit, Spousora, and Edu230.
Also Read: How Tony Elumelu’s $100 million bet on African founders generated $4.2 billion in revenue.
The main mission is to become the leading African-made social messaging platform. ChatPaddi is merging instant messaging with standalone e-commerce, live streaming, and social feeds.
Instead of building another WhatsApp, the application is an all-in-one “super-app” that has been designed for the modern African digital habit. WhatsApp Business organises chat without e-commerce; Adebo wants to bridge this gap.
Adebo Adegboye David
ChatPaddi integrates an e-commerce store within the app. Sellers can upload product catalogues, manage inventory, process payments, and send shareable links accessible via standard web browsers. Also, buyers can browse and purchase directly without leaving the chat or engaging in manual bank transfer routines.
Adebo addressed the distinction in two sentences.
“WhatsApp Business is just allowing you to manage a business, not really ending with an accessible store on the internet. With ChatPaddy, you can create a store, post your goods, manage your business, and connect payments right from the app.”
Furthermore, ChatPaddy addresses public safety and creator economy needs, allowing users to live-stream directly to their contact lists.
ChatPaddi is free for all users for public messaging and basic communication.
Creators can monetise their usage by live-streaming through digital gifting mechanisms. To access the stream, users buy virtual gifts to support streamers, with ChatPaddi retaining a platform revenue share.
For businesses, transactions come with a processing fee. The platform takes a standard charge when merchants process physical or digital orders through the built-in store via payment gateways.
“When people want to pay to order, you have processing charges attached. Also, with our live features, people tend to gift themselves. While you buy gifts for friends, we have our own share of the gifts. That’s another way we generate revenue.” Adebo noted.
ChatPaddi’s interface
ChatPaddi isn’t the first app created by an African. But African tech startups and developers have faced a psychological hurdle: local users have scepticism toward homegrown software compared to foreign options. With this, gaining users’ trust has been a mountain to climb.
Adebo acknowledges that Africans trust Western software primarily due to years of proven uptime, data protection, and consistency. While referencing Paystack’s early rise in the financial ecosystem, he noted that African founders must prove reliability through execution, security, and persistence.
Adebo added the notion that ChatPaddi is not a clone app of WhatsApp. He added that “when we prove that reliability, people will use it.”
The app is already available for download on the Google Play Store, while it’s still under the approval process in the App Store.
