Why Financial Modeling Prep isn't enough for African market data
FMP covers global markets — but African coverage is thin, stale, and missing critical local data. Here is what you get with a purpose-built African data API instead.
Financial Modeling Prep (FMP) is a solid, affordable API for US and global equities. But if you're building for African markets, you quickly hit its limits: thin coverage, stale data, and missing local datasets entirely. Here's an honest look at where FMP falls short for Africa and what a purpose-built alternative offers.
Where FMP struggles with African data
| Need | FMP | MansaAPI |
|---|---|---|
| NGX live prices | Limited / delayed | Yes, 30-min refresh |
| GSE, NSE, BRVM, DSE, LUSE | Minimal | Yes |
| NGX dividends | Spotty | Full history |
| NGX director dealings | No | Yes (Pro) |
| Nigerian bank codes | No | Yes |
| African mobile networks | No | Yes |
| African location data | No | Yes |
| Local-currency pricing | Inconsistent | Native |
The core problem: Africa is an afterthought
FMP, Twelve Data, Alpha Vantage, and similar APIs are built US-first. African markets are bolted on where data is cheap to license — usually just the largest JSE names — and everything else is missing or delayed. For a product serving Nigerian, Ghanaian, or Kenyan users, that's a dealbreaker.
What purpose-built African coverage looks like
MansaAPI is African-first: live prices across 7+ exchanges, dividends, disclosures, insider trades, plus the identity and location data (bank codes, mobile networks, countries) that African fintech actually needs — all in one API with one auth model.
import { MansaAPI } from "mansaapi";
const mansa = new MansaAPI({ apiKey: "mansa_live_sk_..." });
// NGX dividends
await mansa.markets.getDividends("NGX", "GTCO");
// Nigerian bank codes
await mansa.identity.getBanks({ country: "NG" });
// Insider trades
await mansa.markets.getInsiderTrades("NGX", { days: 30 });Pricing comparison
FMP runs free → $19 → $49 → $99. MansaAPI sits in the same range (free → $19 → $49 → custom) but every dollar buys African depth instead of global breadth. If you need both, use both — but don't expect a global API to cover Africa well.
See the MansaAPI pricing or the markets API page to compare for your use case.