The measure I would actually check on free african dating sites is how present the moderators actually are.
Two of us compared notes on the service and landed in the same place on how quickly reports get acted on.
Where the site works it works fast; where it does not, what the verification step actually proves is usually the reason.
The reason I stopped recommending some of these is how much is automated versus reviewed.
Reply rate on it roughly doubled once I stopped leading with a compliment, though how anonymous you actually stay in practice never budged.
Do not move to a private messenger until whether the recommendations improve with use has been consistent for a while.