Medium Expands Partner Program to Over 20 African Countries, Enabling Writers to Earn Revenue

Medium Blog

Starting August 6, 2024, Medium is significantly expanding its Partner Program, now allowing writers from over 77 additional countries, including more than 20 African nations, to monetize their content on the platform. The newly eligible African countries include Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, and Tunisia.

With this expansion, writers from these nations can now earn revenue when Medium members read, listen to, and interact with their stories. Additionally, Medium can now recruit and pay Boost nominators from these countries. The Boost Nomination Program, which highlights top stories for greater visibility, offers a flat fee to nominators for each selected piece, further supporting content creators in these regions.

CEO Tony Stubblebine explained the company’s motivation for this global expansion, saying, “At Medium, we believe there are great stories everywhere. We aim to build a better Internet by offering a platform that welcomes perspectives from a diverse range of countries, demographics, cultures, and experiences. By expanding our Partner Program, we hope these new voices will enrich our collective understanding of the world.”

Determining Your Eligibility for the Medium Partner Program

The Medium Partner Program allows writers to earn money based on engagement from Medium members. To qualify, writers must:

1. Be a Medium member.
2. Have published a story within the last six months.
3. Have a bank account in an eligible country.
4. Be at least 18 years old.

Earnings are based on the time members spend reading and listening to stories, as well as engagement metrics like claps, highlights, replies, and new follows. Writers can also choose to place their stories behind a paywall, making them accessible only to paying Medium members. Payments are processed through Stripe.

Getting Started as a Medium Member

If you’re not already a Medium member, you can sign up for a membership that costs $60–$180 per year or $5–$12 monthly. For a limited time, new members can enjoy a 20% discount. Once you’ve met the eligibility criteria, you can begin the onboarding process to join the Partner Program by following these steps:

1. Onboarding Process: Click “Continue with onboarding” and provide the necessary information to create or connect your Stripe account.
2. Set Up Payouts: Link your Medium account with an active Stripe account. Stripe has confirmed that all newly included countries can receive cross-border payouts. After connecting to Stripe, provide your taxpayer information to Tipalti, a third-party service that handles Medium payouts. Tipalti may take up to 5 business days to review and verify your forms.

Note: Medium now requires a minimum of $10 in story earnings before payouts are sent to your Stripe account. If you don’t reach $10 in a month, the amount will roll over to the next month. After completing enrollment, you can start placing your stories behind the paywall to earn revenue.

How to Place Your Story Behind the Paywall

As a participant in the Medium Partner Program, you have the option to enable monetization for each story. When monetization is activated, the story will be placed behind a paywall, making it accessible only to Medium members.

For Desktop:

1. After writing your story, click “Publish.”
2. Ensure the “Paywall your story” checkbox is selected.
3. Click “Publish now” to make your story live.

For iOS/Android:

1. After writing your story, tap “Next.”
2. Enable the “Members Only” option to make your story eligible for the paywall.
3. Tap “Publish now” to make your story live.

Once your stories are behind the paywall, you will start earning based on Medium member activity, such as reading, listening, claps, highlights, and replies. The more members engage with your stories, the greater your share of their membership dues.

Stories that showcase your expertise and personal insights typically perform better and generate more revenue. You can track your earnings in your Partner Program Dashboard.

This expansion reflects a broader trend in the digital space, where global platforms are increasingly enabling African content creators to monetize their work. In June 2024, Meta updated its policies to allow content creators in Nigeria and Ghana to earn ad revenue on Instagram and Facebook, starting from June 27. The monetization tools were also extended to Kenyan content creators on August 6, 2024.

As digital media continues to grow, these platforms are creating new opportunities for African creators to monetize their content and reach a global audience, recognizing the rich talent and diverse voices across the continent.