English
An eSIM for Africa is a digital data plan for the phone you already own. There is no physical SIM card, no airport lines, and no passport needed. Your plan is ready on your SIMAREA account before you even leave home.
It works safely alongside your normal SIM. You keep your own number for calls and important text messages. Your data goes through the SIMAREA plan. Just turn off data roaming on your home SIM to avoid high bills.
Coverage comes from local partner networks in each country. Your phone connects to the next one as you cross a border.
This plan does not include a local phone number. If you need a number for verification codes, use a virtual number.
What it is not: a local phone number. If you need a number for verification codes, see virtual numbers.
Africa eSIM: one list of 29 countries on every plan
5GEgypt, Morocco, Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania, and South Africa are all on the Africa list, and all three plans share it. Choose 1 GB for 7 days, or 3 or 5 GB for 30 days, and top up with data if you need more.
Plans for Africa are fixed: one price for the data and the term shown. No day pass is sold here. Nothing on this page is an estimate.
One plan for the countries on its list
Set it up at home the night before. Your eSIM waits quietly until you arrive.
Pick eSIM plan
Choose the data and the days you need. A fixed plan is one price for its whole term.
Pay, then scan
Charged from your balance, which you top up with crypto. Your QR code is in your dashboard once the order is paid.
Turn it on at your first stop
Turn on data roaming for your SIMAREA plan when you arrive. After that it connects in each country on its list.
What to know about the Africa eSIM
The specifics that decide whether a travel eSIM is useful once you're actually there.
Local networks in each country
The plan connects to partner networks in every country it covers. Where a country has more than one, your phone can use any of them.
Set up before you go
No SIM card store, no passport check. Install it at home, then turn on data roaming for it when you arrive.
Hotspot sharing
Share your internet with a laptop or a friend, if your plan and phone allow it.
Keep your own number
The eSIM is just for internet. Your normal SIM still receives calls and important bank codes. You can use both at once.
Keep using the same eSIM
Staying longer? Top up the same plan with more data from your dashboard. No need for a new QR code.
If it does not work
Not installed or connected yet? Ask for a refund within 30 days of buying it. Installed but not working on any of its networks? Support helps, and refunds you if it cannot be fixed.
Africa eSIM: the 29 countries by region
Every Africa plan carries the same list, so you only choose data and days. Grouped by region:
- North: Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, and Sudan.
- West: Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, and Senegal.
- Central: the Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo.
- East and the islands: Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Madagascar, Seychelles, and Reunion.
- Southern: Botswana, Eswatini, Malawi, South Africa, and Zambia.
All three plans exit in the UK or Norway and count their days from the first connection in a listed country.
Safari, overland, and island routes
- Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. Airtel in all three, marked 5G in Kenya and Tanzania; Tanzania adds Vodacom (5G) and Uganda adds MTN.
- South Africa, Botswana, and Zambia. South Africa lists MTN (5G), Vodacom, Cell C, and Telkom; Botswana Mascom and Orange; Zambia Airtel (5G) and MTN. For Victoria Falls, note that Zambia is on the list and Zimbabwe isn't.
- Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, and Cote d'Ivoire. MTN in Ghana and Nigeria, 5G in Nigeria; Orange in Senegal and Cote d'Ivoire.
- Madagascar, Seychelles, and Reunion. Airtel on the first two, Orange (5G) on Reunion.
- Morocco, Egypt, and Tunisia. Orange Morocco; Orange and Etisalat, both 5G, in Egypt; Orange (5G) in Tunisia. All three are also on the 12-country Middle East plans, for a trip that goes on to Jordan or the Gulf.
Africa plan or a country plan
With three plans of up to 5 GB, the Africa page is built for crossing borders. If most of the trip is in one country, its own page may offer more: Kenya, South Africa, Egypt, Morocco, Ghana, and Tunisia each sell a day pass and larger fixed plans. The network can differ too: Kenya's own plans run on Safaricom, while the Africa plans use Airtel there.
Running low on a long trip? Every Africa plan can be topped up with data on the same eSIM. For a route that leaves Africa, Global 130 lists most of these countries plus Cameroon, but not the Central African Republic, Guinea-Bissau, or Sudan.
Africa eSIM questions
Is there an Africa day pass or an unlimited plan?
No. Each Africa plan has a fixed amount of data, and no day pass is sold for the region. Several country pages, Kenya and Egypt among them, sell day passes with 1 GB a day at full speed and a slower connection after that until the day resets.
Does the Africa eSIM cover Zimbabwe, Rwanda, or Ethiopia?
Will I get 5G on the Africa eSIM?
Where the partner network has it. The list marks 5G in Egypt, Kenya, Mali, Nigeria, Reunion, South Africa, Tanzania, Tunisia, and Zambia; elsewhere you're on 4G or 3G.
Which IP address will websites see?
A UK or Norwegian one, on all three plans, in every country on the list.
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The SIMAREA app is on its way
Check your data, top up and manage every eSIM from your phone.
Choose your Africa plan
The list is the same on all three plans, so pick by days and data: 1 GB for a week, or 3 or 5 GB for a month.