Canva launches local operations in South Africa

Canva has expanded its presence in South Africa with a local office, new education partnerships and tailored tools for small businesses, creators and students, marking a deeper push into the African market.

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The visual communication platform, which reports over $3.5bn in annual revenue and 260 million monthly users globally, says more than 77 million designs were created by South Africans this year.

Local operations and language expansion

Canva now has a South African team of nine, based at AfricaWorks in Rosebank, Johannesburg, to drive regional strategy. The company has expanded its platform to nearly 20 African languages including isiZulu, isiXhosa, Afrikaans and Swahili, aiming to support more relevant content and local user experience.

Locally relevant content and design tools

The platform has introduced design templates built around South African cultural and commercial moments such as Wedding Season, Back to School, township business branding and Black Friday. Curated design packs for SMBs and individual creators, including Pocket Business Kits and WhatsApp business starter templates, are now available.

Canva is working with local illustrators and designers to build templates inspired by regional visual culture, positioning its content to better reflect African users.

Education partnerships across South Africa and the continent

Through Canva for Education, partnerships have been established with the University of Cape Town, University of Johannesburg, University of Pretoria, Rhodes University and the African Leadership University, providing free access to design tools and classroom training.

The company has also signed an MoU with the Ministry of Education in Ethiopia and integrated with Snapplify’s authentication platform, enabling access for more than 800,000 learners and 100,000 teachers.

Supporting the creator economy and small business growth

Canva has launched the Canva Africa Design Challenge, offering South African designers a chance to have their templates licensed for global use. The programme is supported by the Canva Africa Design Community, Canva Africa Creators, and a Canvassador network aimed at helping local creators earn through template licensing.

Local payment options

To improve accessibility, Canva has rolled out local pricing for South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya and Ghana. Payment options now include M-Pesa, Verve cards and direct bank transfers through NIBSS, aimed at reducing foreign currency fees and widening adoption.