With open‐access publishing authors often pay an article processing charge and subsequently their article is freely available online. These charges are beyond the reach of most African academics. Thus, the trend towards open‐access publishing will shift the business model from a pay‐wall model, where access to literature is limited, to a pay‐to‐publish one, where African scholars cannot afford to publish. We explore the costs of publishing and the ability of African scholars to afford to publish via open access in top journals. Three‐quarters of the 40 top ecology journals required payment for open‐access publishing (average cost $3150). Paying such fees is a hardship for African scholars as grant funding is not available and it is not feasible to pay the fees themselves as salaries are low. We encourage funders and publishers to facilitate an equitable publishing model that allows African scholars to make their research available through open‐access publishing. Open‐access publishing is a business model where authors pay an article processing charge and subsequently, their article is made freely available online, but these charges are beyond the reach of most African academics. We explored the costs of publishing in 40 top ecology journals and the ability of African scholars to afford to publish their work as open access and found that three‐quarters of journals required payment for open‐access publishing and the average cost in 2019 was $3150; an amount far greater than what African researchers can typically find from grant money or pay themselves. We encourage funders and publishers to facilitate a more equitable publishing model to allow African scholars to make their research available through open‐access publishing.