How Ethiopian models get paid for AI ads
· Yitayal Mesfin, Founder, Konjit
Models set the price, keep all of it, and are paid in birr every time an ad with their clone goes live. Here is how the money moves.
The short answer: the model sets a price, the brand pays it, and the model keeps all of it. Here is how that works step by step.
First, the model chooses a price for each channel (social, digital, TV) and licence length (1, 3 or 12 months). They can change it at any time, and they can block categories they never want to appear in.
Second, a brand picks the model and sends a brief. The brand sees one clear quote: a creative fee to make the ad, plus the model's price and Konjit's 20% commission for the licence. The commission is added on top, so it never comes out of the model's share.
Third, the model approves the finished ad. Only then does the ad go live, and only then does the model's price go to their Konjit wallet.
Fourth, the model withdraws in birr to a bank account, Telebirr or CBE Birr. International brands pay in USD, EUR or AED by card, and the model is still paid in birr.
When a licence ends, the brand can renew it, and the renewal pays the model again. That is the part we care about most: one approved ad can keep earning, instead of a single fee for a single day.
Models never pay anything: not to join, not to approve, and not to say no.