Let me tell you how I found out about eSIM for travellers.
I was at Murtala Mohammed Airport, and it was a last-minute thing. I had bought data on my MTN as I use the annual plan. In my mind, I was prepared. Like, it was only 2 weeks moving between three European countries. I was like I’d sort something out when I landed—big mistake.
I landed in Amsterdam and walked around Schiphol looking for a SIM vendor for forty minutes. When I finally found one, I paid more than I want to admit, and the data sucking was hell.
A friend at the hotel clocked my situation and handed me his phone to show me an app. “You could have done all of this at home,” he said, “before you even packed your bag.”
He was talking about eSIMs.
I haven’t bought a physical SIM at a foreign airport since that day. This post is so that you don’t go out like a novice on your next trip out of your country. I want to give you everything from my experience. After you read this, you will be like a mini expert on eSims.
What a Travel eSIM Actually Is
Before we go any further, you must understand that finding the right eSIM for travellers is not the answer to every connectivity problem an African traveller faces. It depends entirely on where you’re going and how you’re getting there.
An eSIM, AKA embedded SIM, is a SIM card built into your phone’s motherboard. Like you can’t see it. There’s no SIM card tray or physical card. With an eSim, you don’t have to start looking for a telecom shop in a language you don’t speak when you land somewhere new.
All you do is buy a data plan before you travel, usually through an app on your phone. You scan a QR code to install it. When your flight lands, your phone connects to the local network automatically. And you are online just like that!
The “embedded” part means you can’t remove it, but you can load multiple profiles onto the same chip. Let me explain. Let’s say you live in Nigeria; your home network in Nigeria will be on one profile in your eSIM. Then you will have a travel plan on another profile. Both profiles can be active at the same time. That means your Nigerian number can keep ringing for mobile calls while your Amsterdam data plan keeps you on the internet.
eSIM for Travellers: Does Your Phone Support eSIM?
This is the first real question. Because eSIM compatibility determines whether or not you should read any of this. It won’t matter if your phone can’t use an eSIM. So let us look at the phones that can use an eSIM:
iPhone: The XS from 2018 onwards. Every iPhone after that supports eSIM. If you bought a US model after 2022, it may be eSIM-only without a port for a physical SIM. African models generally kept the physical slot alongside eSIM, which is actually the more practical setup for us.
Samsung: Galaxy S20 and newer. The Fold and Flip series both have eSIM compatibility. Most budget A-series models don’t have it, so check before you assume.
Google Pixel: From the Pixel 3 onwards, use eSIM.
Huawei: This is where it gets complicated for many of us. Most Huawei phones don’t support eSIM, or they support a version locked to their own ecosystem. Check your exact model on the manufacturer’s site.
Tecno, Infinix, Itel: As of now, eSIM is not available across most models in these ranges. These are the phones that dominate the African market, particularly among younger buyers, and the eSIM conversation simply hasn’t reached them yet.
This is one of the real gaps in how eSIM technology is being rolled out globally — the brands that most African people actually use are the last ones to get it. I don’t see that acknowledged enough in mainstream tech coverage.
How to check your phone right now: On iPhone, go to Settings → General → About and look for “Available SIM” or “eSIM.” On Android, Settings → Connections → SIM Manager.
If you see an option to add a mobile plan or an eSIM, you have it. If you don’t see it, assume you don’t.
Carrier Lock Issues: Can You Use eSIM with Your African Phone?
A common problem I have seen with many African countries is that your phone might support eSIM, but it might be locked to your home carrier. This means if you buy an iPhone in Nigeria that is compatible with eSIM, it may be locked to only MTN, Glo, or Airtel. You won’t be able to activate a foreign plan on it.
This affects a lot of us who bought phones on contract or through carrier deals. If you got your phone from MTN, Safaricom, Airtel, or any African carrier through a subsidised plan, there’s a real chance it’s locked. A locked phone will only accept eSIM profiles from that carrier or its partners.
To check:
put a different carrier’s SIM in your phone. If it works, you’re unlocked. If it asks for a PIN or says “SIM not supported,” you’re locked.
To fix it:
call your network carrier. If your contract is done, they’re generally required to unlock it at no cost. Some will sort it over the phone; others will make you walk into a branch. It’s a half-day inconvenience at most, and worth doing before you travel.
How eSIM Roaming Works in Europe and Where Coverage Stops for African Travellers
If you travel within the EU and you have a UK or European SIM, you’ve probably noticed that it just works wherever you are in Europe. Same data plan you bought with the same phone number, no drama. You fly into Paris, you’re in Lisbon two days later, you’re in Barcelona the week after that, your SIM follows you the whole way without you doing anything.
My friend travels frequently across Europe, and the SIM she picked up in the UK worked across the entire journey, on the same plan, without any extra changes. Although when she got to Georgia, she noticed an exception. Her SIM stopped working. Apparently, she had forgotten that Georgia isn’t in the EU, and so the roaming agreements that make a UK SIM feel seamless across the continent don’t apply there.
Worth knowing because Georgia has become a destination that more Africans are visiting, and there’s a growing community there. You don’t want to land and find out the hard way.
The principle holds, though. When inside the EU/EEA, a good European SIM or a regional European eSIM plan will look after you. The moment you go outside to places like Turkey, Morocco, or Central Asia, the rules change completely.
Real-World Test: eSIM vs Physical SIM on the London-to-Lagos Overland Route
So, at Travel Radio Live, we love to give full reviews. So, remember one of our team that travelled by land from London to Lagos.
For us to get the correct ratings, she did not fly; she used public transport by road all through.
Her European SIM worked perfectly through Spain. The moment she crossed into Morocco, it stopped. Like, she did not get any new roaming charges, or any notifications like “this will cost extra”. Everything just stopped working. She’d assumed she’d at least get charged extra for roaming like you do when you wander briefly outside the EU. Instead, the SIM simply stopped functioning.
And since she was in public transport, she needed connectivity badly. Morocco is a long country when you’re on road, and there’s a lot of desert between you and the next major town. SO imagine the scare.
Network Coverage in West Africa
She found a vendor near the border and ended up on Orange, the French multinational network with coverage across most of the Francophone African corridor.
Then she reached the Morocco-Western Sahara border. As she was entering a new country, the SIM stopped working again. She had to get another local SIM. Orange again. When she moved from Western Sahara towards Mauritania, same thing happened again. She bought another Orange SIM there. Like it is the same SIM company, but it does not work in the same continent. That was how she continued buying, country after country, border after border, all the way down through West Africa, until she eventually got her MTN SIM working again in Lagos.
By the end, she had bought fifteen Orange SIM cards! And she had to register each SIM in each country with her passport details, personal information, and registration data every single time.
The local telecoms providers in those countries were nowhere to be found at the border crossings. It was Orange or get lost.
We don’t talk about connectivity in Africa enough. How can we be united when we cannot even share a common network provider?
She couldn’t use an eSIM plan for the journey because eSIM coverage across that specific corridor wasn’t consistent or reliable enough to bet on.
According to her, she also wanted to use getting a physical SIM card as an oppotunity to talk to someone, which was a way to get information. Her journey was public transport. That human exchange was worth the extra effort of finding a vendor. The problem was that the extra effort always led to Orange, and “also available here” was never an option they were given.
Watch out for PART 2 of her overland journey. She’s still on the road. We genuinely don’t know what the stretch from West Africa to Southern Africa is going to look like for connectivity. We’ll report back when our co-founder gets there.
eSIM vs Physical SIM: How African Travellers Should Actually Decide
Let us come back to our guide before I bore you with my rants. Let me give you the honest breakdown, because the answer is not the same for every trip.
Go with eSIM if:
- You’re flying into a destination with solid telecoms infrastructure. Countries in Europe, North America, East Asia, and Southern Africa have the system for functional eSIMs.
- You have a compatible unlocked phone.
- You want to sort your connectivity before you leave home without speaking to anyone in a foreign language.
- You’re not crossing multiple land borders in quick succession through countries with thin telecoms coverage.
Stick with or fall back to a physical SIM if:
- You’re doing overland travel across multiple African countries, especially through the Francophone West African corridor. Your crossing points are remote border zones rather than major international airports. You need a local number for calls, not just data. The eSIM vs physical SIM debate leans heavily physical when your coverage maps for your route look uncertain. And for most of the Sahel and North-to-West African overland route, they will.
The practical middle:
For a Nigerian travelling to London for a conference, or a Kenyan going to Dubai, or a South African doing a Europe summer trip, eSIM will work well and costs a fraction of what roaming would. For the London-to-Lagos overland journey our colleague just completed? Physical SIMs are still the more dependable backbone for that specific corridor, frustrating as that is. Just plan accordingly.
Where to Buy the Best eSIM for African Travellers Online
Now, let us talk about how to get the best eSIM for travellers that will not fail you.
Airalo: Best eSIM for First-Time African Travellers
The place most people start, and for good reason. Airalo operates as a marketplace. You buy an eSIM online for a specific country or region, scan a QR code, and you’re in. The coverage goes across over 200 countries. Their packages typically start around $5 for a week of light data, going up to $30 and beyond for larger data buckets or longer trips.
The app is clean and the setup is generally smooth.
However, customer support takes its time when something goes wrong. So, you might want to sort your eSIM while you have stable WiFi and not while you are at the boarding gate.
Best for: People trying eSIM for the first time, and trips to one or two countries.
Holafly: Best Unlimited Data eSIM for Long Trips
Holafly‘s selling point is unlimited data. Their unlimited data plan is truly unlimited with no cap on how much you use, though speeds may slow down after a threshold. So, if you are only travelling for work, or just doing video calls, working remotely, or just to stream movies while you’re on the move, you know what you are paying for.
Holafly is actually more expensive than Airalo for the same duration, but if you’re going to be on Maps constantly and downloading files, the extra cost is worth the peace of mind.
Best for: Heavy data users, remote workers, or trips longer than ten days.
Other Reliable eSims include this brand named Yesim. Whether it is seamless data access or virtual numbers in key regions like North America, the EU, and the Middle East, Yesim ensures users stay connected wherever they go.
Local Carrier eSIMs: When to Buy Direct for a Local Number
Some carriers actually sell eSIM directly through their website or app. For example, T-Mobile in the US, EE in the UK, and Vodafone in various European markets sell eSIMs. Airtel, and MTN also now sell eSIMs. The advantage of buying eSIMs of a local carrier is that you often get a local number alongside data number. That is useful for receiving verification codes from local services. The downside, however, is that you have to navigate each carrier’s website in a foreign telecoms landscape.
Best for: Longer stays in a single country, or when a local number is necessary.
Regional eSIM Plans for Multi-Country African Travel
Airalo and a few others offer regional plans covering multiple African countries in a single package. Countries like South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Egypt, and Morocco all have workable eSIM options. However, once you get into Western Sahara, Mauritania, or deeper into the Sahel, the coverage picture becomes genuinely thin.
This is a reflection of where telecoms infrastructure actually is in those areas right now. A frustratingly Orange-branded physical SIM from a market stall will get you online, where an eSIM leaves you stranded.
eSIM Costs for African Travellers: Real Prices Compared to Roaming
Now, let us say you can use an eSIm. Your phone is compatible. Does it makes any sense to use an eSim over roaming? Let us look at the numbers together:
In Europe, 7 days, 10GB: $8–15 on Airalo. Holafly unlimited runs around $27.
USA, 10 days, 10GB: $12–20. Holafly unlimited is around $37.
Southeast Asia, in Thailand, Indonesia, or Japan, 7 days, 10GB: $6–12. Competitive market, consistently cheap.
Within Africa, South Africa, Kenya, or Egypt, 7 days, 5GB: $5–10, with fewer options and variable reliability.
Middle East, UAE, or Saudi, 7 days, 10GB: $8–15 depending on the provider and duration.
Compare that to what your home carrier offers for international roaming. This roaming alternative completely outperforms carrier rates.
MTN South Africa’s international roaming packages were running at around R199 per day for 200MB in 2024—one day of roaming is costing more than a full week of proper data on an eSIM. The maths are not close.
If your company covers travel expenses, eSIMs are almost always the cheaper option. Both Airalo and Holafly provide itemised receipts. You can use them.
See our post on How to Set Up Your eSIM: Step-by-Step eSIM Setup Guide for African Users
Keep Your Nigerian, Kenyan or South African Number Active While Using eSIM Abroad
This part matters more for us than for most travellers, and it usually gets one sentence in other guides, but I will explain more in detail.
Your home SIM is supposed to stay in your phone the entire trip. Your calls will still come through and you can still receive bank OTPs. The eSIM will handle data.
Now, I am not trying to encourage you to use your home SIM to call home while abroad. Unless you want to rack up insane amount in international call credits. Use WhatsApp, Telegram, or any data-based calling whenever you can. Keep your home number for genuine emergencies, not for chatting.
How to Handle Bank OTPs Abroad
Now, how do you handle bank OTPs? They will send a verification code via SMS to your home number, and you need to receive it. Always make sure data roaming is off. That way, you are not paying any extra fees. Since the SIM is on, you will still get incoming SMS.
On most carriers, incoming SMS while abroad is free or very cheap. Check this with your carrier before you leave.
Monthly eSIM Subscriptions: Worth It for Frequent African Travellers?
If you’re travelling more than once every six weeks, or if you use lots of data while you move around, a monthly subscription starts to make sense. Airalo’s “Airalo Passport” is the most well-known option. Holafly and a few others have similar structures. You pay a fixed monthly fee, get a data pool that refreshes, and you don’t start from scratch every trip.
A pay-as-you-go package is fine for casual travellers. You pay for what you use and you’re not carrying a recurring charge in the months you’re home.
My Personal eSIM Setup as an African Traveller
I use an iPhone 14 Pro. I have a South African number as my primary SIM for calls and identity. I use Airalo for most trips because their Europe regional plan covers 39 countries, which is useful when work takes you across multiple cities in a week. I only use Holafly when the trip is long enough that I don’t want to be watching my data.
Both plans are labelled clearly in my settings. I always put data roaming off on the home SIM the moment I board.
I have not paid a surprise roaming bill since I started doing it this way.
Quick Summary: When African Travellers Should Use eSIM vs Physical SIM
If you are flying to Europe, North America, or anywhere with solid infrastructure, get an eSIM. Buy it before you fly, set your data routing when you land, turn off roaming on your home SIM, and you’re done.
The setup takes fifteen minutes the first time and five minutes every trip after.
If you are doing overland travel across multiple African countries, especially through the North-to-West African corridor, plan for physical SIMs. Accept the Orange reality for what it is.
