eSIM Africa

No to both. Gorilla treks in Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park need our Rwanda eSIM. Uganda is on the plan, so treks in Bwindi run on Airtel Uganda, with patchy signal on the trails. At Victoria Falls the eSIM works on the Zambian side, in Livingstone and Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park, and stops once you cross the bridge into Zimbabwe. A day trip to Chobe in Botswana needs the Botswana eSIM.

Some of the time. Park gates, lodges and nearby towns often get a signal; game drives in the Masai Mara, the Serengeti, South Luangwa or the Lower Zambezi, and the trekking trails in Bwindi, often don’t. Download offline maps and your booking details before each park, and send videos once you’re back in town.

Not always. For a trip to one country, the single-country plan is often cheaper, for example our Morocco eSIM or Kenya eSIM. The regional plan pays off once you visit two or more of the 21 countries, because one eSIM and one balance cover the whole route. For a long stay in a single country, an Africa SIM card bought locally is often cheaper still: you register it with your passport at an operator shop, and in return you get a local number and mobile money.

If it’s eSIM-capable and not locked to a carrier, it will. That includes recent iPhone, Samsung Galaxy and Google Pixel models. Check yours on our list of supported devices before you buy.

Hotspot and tethering are allowed. With 5 GB as the largest plan, though, a laptop can eat through your data quickly with updates and cloud sync running, so pause those or leave them for hotel Wi-Fi.

Any time, from your Esimy dashboard or the app. The extra data goes onto the eSIM already in your phone, with no new QR code. Do it from town or on Wi-Fi before you head into a park.

For most two-week safaris, 3 GB is enough, because you’ll spend long days in the parks with little signal and evenings on lodge Wi-Fi. A city-heavy trip or work travel to Lagos, Accra or Nairobi, with email and video calls, fits 5 GB better. Those are the largest sizes on this plan. If 5 GB runs out, top up the same eSIM rather than buying a new one.

No. It’s data only, so you get no local number, no calls and no SMS. WhatsApp covers most of what you’d want a number for, since safari drivers and guesthouses use it to confirm pickups. Leave your home SIM on in dual-SIM for bank codes.

Yes, on the same eSIM. At the Namanga border post your phone leaves Airtel Kenya and joins Yas or Airtel in Tanzania without you touching a setting, though a short spell with no signal around the crossing is normal. Flying from Nairobi to Kilimanjaro or Zanzibar works the same way once you switch off flight mode. Validity keeps running across both countries.

Airtel Kenya. Safaricom, the country’s biggest network, isn’t included. Nairobi, Mombasa and the main roads are fine for maps, Uber or Bolt and WhatsApp, but in the Masai Mara, Amboseli and other reserves the signal is patchy, so plan on lodge Wi-Fi there. M-Pesa also needs a local Safaricom line, which this eSIM can’t give you.

There are 21 in total:

• North Africa: Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt
• West and Central Africa: Senegal, Ghana, Nigeria, Niger, Chad, Gabon, Republic of the Congo, DR Congo
• East Africa: Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania
• Southern Africa: Malawi, Zambia, South Africa
• Indian Ocean: Madagascar, Mauritius, Réunion

Sudan, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Botswana, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Namibia aren’t on the list.

The one that matches your route. If you’re visiting two or more of the 21 countries on this plan, a regional eSIM saves you buying and installing a new plan at every border. Esimy’s Africa eSIM connects to local networks such as Airtel, Orange, Vodacom and Maroc Telecom, needs no ID, allows hotspot and can be topped up. Check the networks for your countries first: Safaricom and MTN aren’t included, and that matters most in Kenya, Ghana and Nigeria.