Africa Travel eSIM

You need an eSIM-capable, carrier-unlocked phone: an iPhone XS or newer, a Pixel 3 or newer, or a recent Samsung Galaxy S, Z or A-series flagship. Dial *#06# — if an EID number is listed alongside the IMEI, the phone has an eSIM.

See the full compatibility list.

Up to 32 destinations across North, West, East, Central and Southern Africa, plus Indian Ocean islands — Mauritius, Seychelles, Madagascar and Réunion. Coverage differs between plans, so check the counter on each plan card; the full destination list sits above the plans on this page.

For one country, usually not — Kenya, South Africa and the other country pages are worth checking first. The Africa plan earns its price on multi-country trips: a Kenya–Tanzania safari, a Southern Africa self-drive, or a West African business circuit, where the alternative is buying and switching between three or four profiles.

It varies — the profile attaches to a partner network in each country, so we can't name one operator across the whole plan. You get a major national network in each market rather than a fringe one.

Honestly: variable, and better than the stereotype in the cities. Nairobi, Lagos, Johannesburg, Accra, Cairo, Dar es Salaam and Kigali all have strong LTE and, increasingly, 5G. Coverage follows the major roads, the coast and the population — the gaps are the game parks, the Sahara, the Congo basin and the deep interior. Plan for offline maps on any safari or overland route.

On plans marked 5G, where the local partner network has deployed it. South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Egypt, Morocco, Ghana and Tanzania all have real 5G in their major cities. Most of the rest of the continent is 4G/LTE, which is what covers the ground.

A mid-size plan carries a two-to-three-week trip where lodges and hotels have Wi-Fi; hotspotting, remote work or daily safari-photo uploads push you up a size or two. Data in Africa is priced above Europe and Asia here because regional wholesale genuinely costs more — that's not a markup.

Where the local network reaches, which in the big parks means gates, airstrips, camps and ridgelines rather than everywhere. The Maasai Mara, Serengeti, Kruger and Etosha all have partial coverage. Assume a game drive is offline and treat signal as a bonus.

No. Mobile money wallets are tied to a registered local voice line, and this is a data-only roaming plan. Card acceptance is good in South African, Kenyan, Moroccan and Egyptian cities and thinner elsewhere; carry cash.

No. Several countries on this list require biometric or ID registration for locally bought SIMs — Kenya, Tanzania, Nigeria and South Africa among them. A roaming eSIM has no registration step in any of them.

Yes, everywhere the plan works. It's the standard way to get a vehicle or a group online off one allowance.