Guinea-Bissau is a one-network country as far as travel eSIMs are concerned: Airalo, Nomad and Holafly all sell it, and all three connect to Orange Bissau. That makes the choice a pure question of price and plan shape. Nomad is the cheapest by a clear margin at 7 dollars for 1 GB over a week or 17 dollars for 3 GB over a month. Airalo's packs are short and dearer, and Holafly's unlimited days cost 40.90 dollars for a week. Be aware before you buy that Orange's own prepaid passes in Bissau are cheaper again, about four times cheaper per gigabyte, and the SIM costs 250 francs. What the eSIM buys you is a working phone as you walk out of Osvaldo Vieira airport, with no queue at an Orange agency that shuts at noon on Saturday and all day Sunday. Make sure you are buying the right Guinea, too: these are the Guinea-Bissau pages, not Guinea (Conakry), Equatorial Guinea or Papua New Guinea.
Quick Pick: the Best eSIM for Guinea-Bissau
Nomad (Guinea-Bissau 3 GB / 30 days): At 17 dollars it is the cheapest sensible allowance any of the three sellers offers for a Guinea-Bissau trip, it runs on Orange like everything else, and thirty days covers a long stay or a slow Bijagos itinerary without a top-up. Anyone on a quick visit can drop to Nomad's 1 GB week for 7 dollars.
Our picks
Best overall: Nomad. Lowest per GB: Nomad. Unlimited: Holafly. Or use the eSIM Finder.
Guinea-Bissau eSIM Plans Compared
Indicative pricing. Tap through for live rates.
| Provider | Plan | Data | Duration | Price | Network |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Airalo | Guinea-Bissau 1GB | 1 GB | 3 days | $9.50 | Orange Bissau |
| Airalo | Guinea-Bissau 3GB | 3 GB | 3 days | $24 | Orange Bissau |
| Airalo | Guinea-Bissau 3GB | 3 GB | 7 days | $25 | Orange Bissau |
| Nomad | Guinea-Bissau 1GB | 1 GB | 7 days | $7 | Orange Bissau |
| Nomad | Guinea-Bissau 3GB | 3 GB | 30 days | $17 | Orange Bissau |
| Nomad | Guinea-Bissau 5GB | 5 GB | 30 days | $25 | Orange Bissau |
| Nomad | Guinea-Bissau 10GB | 10 GB | 30 days | $45 | Orange Bissau |
| Holafly | Unlimited 1-day | Unlimited | 1 days | $9.50 | Orange Bissau |
| Holafly | Unlimited 5-day | Unlimited | 5 days | $31.50 | Orange Bissau |
| Holafly | Unlimited 7-day | Unlimited | 7 days | $40.90 | Orange Bissau |
| Holafly | Unlimited 15-day | Unlimited | 15 days | $64.90 | Orange Bissau |
| Holafly | Unlimited 30-day | Unlimited | 30 days | $115.50 | Orange Bissau |
Airalo Guinea-Bissau Plans
Airalo: Short Orange Packs, Priced Above Nomad
Three Guinea-Bissau plans, none longer than a week
Airalo lists Guinea-Bissau as its own destination with a deliberately short menu: 1 GB for three days at 9.50 dollars, 3 GB for three days at 24 dollars, and 3 GB for seven days at 25 dollars. The page names Orange as the network, so there is no difference in where the signal comes from compared with the other two sellers. The difference is the rate. Even the best of these, the week-long 3 GB plan, comes to more than 8 dollars a gigabyte, and the 1 GB plan expires after three days, which is shorter than almost any trip to the Bijagos.
The Africa regional package is worth a look only for a particular kind of trip. It does include Guinea-Bissau, and it covers neighbours like Senegal and Guinea in the same purchase, but it is not cheaper: 1 GB over three days costs 11 dollars, 5 GB over a week 33.50 and 5 GB over a month 41. If you are travelling up through Ziguinchor to Dakar, or on to Conakry, having one plan for the whole route may be worth that premium. For a trip that stays inside Guinea-Bissau, it is not.
Where Airalo earns its place is familiarity. Plenty of readers already have its app, a stored card and an existing eSIM they can top up, and for a three-day work visit to Bissau the 9.50 dollar plan gets you through meetings without opening another account. For anything longer, the numbers favour Nomad.
Strengths
Weaknesses
Holafly Guinea-Bissau Plans
Holafly: Unlimited Days on Orange, at a Steep Price
Day-priced unlimited data, with a shared hotspot allowance
Holafly is the only seller here with unlimited data, and it prices it by the day: 9.50 dollars for one day, 31.50 for five, 40.90 for a week, 64.90 for fifteen days and 115.50 for thirty. Its page lists Orange Bissau as the network, so the coverage is identical to the other two, and it states plainly that the signal can be limited or unstable on the less inhabited islands, during boat journeys, in parts of the Bijagos and in Orango National Park. That is an unusually candid admission from a seller, and it is accurate.
Unlimited applies to the phone itself. Tethering is capped at 1 GB of shareable data per day, so a week-long plan carries up to 7 GB for a laptop. That suits a photographer backing up images from Bubaque each evening, or a consultant who needs to send large files from Bissau and does not want to count megabytes. For ordinary use, messaging, maps and email, a week of Holafly costs nearly six times as much as Nomad's 1 GB week and more than twice Nomad's 3 GB month.
Choose Holafly if you genuinely cannot predict your usage, or if your work involves video uploads on a deadline. Otherwise, the money is better spent on Nomad, or on an Orange SIM with one of its hour-based unlimited passes for the occasional big upload.
Strengths
Weaknesses
Nomad Guinea-Bissau Plans
Nomad: The Cheapest Way Onto Orange Before You Land
Four Guinea-Bissau plans, three of them good for a full month
Nomad is the cheapest of the three sellers in Guinea-Bissau, and not narrowly. A week with 1 GB costs 7 dollars, a month with 3 GB costs 17, 5 GB is 25 and 10 GB is 45. Work that through and you are paying between 4.50 and 7 dollars a gigabyte, against more than 8 on Airalo's best plan. Nomad's product data identifies the host network by its code, 632-03, which is Orange Bissau, the same network Airalo and Holafly name.
The thirty-day validity matters more here than it does in a lot of countries. Trips to Guinea-Bissau tend to run long because the islands run on boat and tide timetables, flights in and out are not daily on every route, and NGO and project staff often stay several weeks. Three of Nomad's four plans last a month, so you can buy once at home and not think about it again. You also have sixty days from purchase to activate, which leaves room to buy early.
The honest caveat is the local SIM. Orange's 3.2 GB monthly pass at the counter costs about 3.81 euros, roughly a quarter of Nomad's 3 GB price, so anyone staying a fortnight or more in Bissau and happy to queue at an Orange agency will save money doing that. What Nomad buys is time: you land with data working, skip a counter that is closed on Sunday, and keep your home number on the phone's main line.
Strengths
Weaknesses
Mobile Networks in Guinea-Bissau
Orange is the network that matters. Orange Bissau is the larger of the two mobile operators and the only one any travel eSIM seller has a deal with. Nomad's product data names it by its network code, 632-03, Airalo shows Orange as the primary network, and Holafly lists Orange Bissau under networks. Orange runs 2G, 3G and 4G, and it has started switching on what it calls 4G+ in some neighbourhoods of Bissau, with the rest of the capital promised next. Outside the city, its towers follow the main roads east to Bafata and Gabu and north toward Cacheu and the Senegal border, and out on the islands the coverage is a story told settlement by settlement.
The other network changed hands. If an older guide tells you to choose between Orange and MTN, it is out of date. MTN sold its Guinea-Bissau subsidiary, Spacetel, to the Telecel Group, and the transfer was completed in August 2024 with the approval of the national regulator, the ARN. The network now trades as Telecel Guine-Bissau. At the time of the sale, Portuguese news agency Lusa put the business at roughly 30 percent of the mobile market, which leaves Orange carrying most of the rest. Telecel said it would invest in coverage and new products, but its website was little more than a placeholder when we checked, and no travel eSIM seller connects to it. The state's own operators, Guine Telecom and its mobile arm Guinetel, are not a practical choice for a visitor, and the government has been trying to sell a majority stake in both.
Buying an Orange SIM. The basic Orange starter costs 250 CFA francs, under 40 euro cents, and comes with a 250 MB internet bonus, 100 SMS and 1,000 francs of calls to other Orange numbers, all valid for seven days. Registration is compulsory under Decree-Law 22/2013 and free; a foreigner shows a passport. Orange's agencies open Monday to Friday from 08:00 to 17:00 and on Saturday from 08:00 to 12:00. The main one is on Praca dos Herois Nacionais, the business office is on Avenida Francisco Mendes, a third is at Chapa on Avenida Combatentes da Liberdade da Patria, and there is one in Buba in the south, plus franchise shops across Bissau. We could not confirm a permanent SIM desk inside the airport terminal, so do not count on one.
| Orange pass | Data | Validity | Price | About |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starter SIM | 250 MB bonus | 7 days | 250 XOF | 0.38 EUR |
| Daily pass | 60 MB | 24 hours | 100 XOF | 0.15 EUR |
| Monthly pass | 3.2 GB | 30 days | 2,500 XOF | 3.81 EUR |
| Larger monthly passes | 8 GB or 20 GB | 30 days | Not listed | Ask at the counter |
The 3.2 GB monthly pass works out at about 1.20 euros a gigabyte, against roughly 5.70 dollars a gigabyte for Nomad's 3 GB plan, the cheapest travel eSIM rate here. Passes are bought by dialling #5234# or online at pass.orange-bissau.com, and #5234#4# shows what is left. Orange also sells hour-based unlimited passes, for one, three or eight hours, the whole of Sunday, or midnight to 06:00, which suit a big upload better than a daily allowance does; their prices were not published on Orange's site. The West African CFA franc is fixed to the euro at 655.957, so these euro figures hold steady.
Before you go
Germany's foreign office, updated on 12 October 2026, says visas are available on arrival at the airport for 80 euros for 30 days, but not at land borders, and yellow fever vaccination is compulsory. The military took power on 26 November 2025 and elections are set for 6 December 2026, so curfews can return at short notice. Cards are of little use: Visa works only at larger hotels and Mastercard is not accepted, so carry euros in cash.
Coverage Across Guinea-Bissau
Coverage where travelers actually go:
| Area | Coverage | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Bissau and Bissau Velho | Good | Orange's 4G+ is rolling out by neighbourhood here, and the agencies, franchise shops and the Pidjiquiti waterfront all sit within the reliable zone. |
| Osvaldo Vieira airport road | Good | Signal holds from the terminal along the airport road into the centre, so an eSIM installed beforehand is working before you reach your hotel. |
| Bubaque and the inner Bijagos | Usable near town | Bubaque town and the jetty have a signal. Beaches on the far side of the island and smaller islets like Rubane drop to weak or none. |
| Orango and Joao Vieira-Poilao | Sparse to none | The saltwater hippo and sea turtle parks are the reason many people come. Holafly itself warns coverage is limited here and on boat crossings. |
| Cacheu, Sao Domingos and Varela | Patchy | Workable in Cacheu town and at the Sao Domingos border post toward Ziguinchor. Varela beach, out on the northern coast, is hit and miss. |
| Bafata, Gabu and the east | Usable on the main road | Towns along the main highway east are covered. Saltinho rapids and the villages off the tarmac lose signal quickly. |
| Cantanhez and the far south | Weak | Orange has an agency in Buba, but the forest of Cantanhez, with its chimpanzees, and the mangrove coast past Catio are mostly out of range. |
How to Choose the Right Plan
Since every option runs over Orange, nobody wins on coverage. Decide on how long you are staying, whether you will be in Bissau for a working day before heading out, and how much the islands figure in the trip.
Short visit, mostly Bissau: Nomad's 1 GB week. For a three or four day trip of meetings, 7 dollars covers maps, messaging and email, and it is cheaper than the time you would spend finding an Orange agency between appointments. Airalo's 9.50 dollar plan is the alternative if you already have its app, but it expires after three days.
A week or more, or the Bijagos: Nomad's 3 GB month. At 17 dollars this is the plan most readers should buy. Island trips are long by nature. The public ferry to Bubaque takes several hours and does not run every day, boat transfers to Orango and the marine parks depend on the tide, and you will want enough validity to cover a delayed return. Out on the islands, the eSIM and a local SIM are on the same Orange towers, so the plan type changes nothing about where you get signal.
Staying several weeks: buy an Orange SIM as well. Project staff, researchers and anyone on a long posting should go to an Orange agency on a weekday morning with a passport. Registration is free, the SIM costs 250 francs, and the 3.2 GB monthly pass at 2,500 francs will save you money within the first month. Keep the eSIM for arrival and as a backup, or skip it entirely if someone is meeting you at the airport.
Heavy uploads: Holafly, or Orange's hour passes. Holafly's unlimited week at 40.90 dollars removes the worry about data, with up to 1 GB a day for a laptop. If you already have an Orange SIM, its eight-hour or Sunday unlimited pass is the cheaper way to clear a backlog of photos or video in one sitting.
Plan for the moment you leave Bissau. Download offline maps of the Bijagos and the road east before you go, and send anything important while you are still in town. Mains electricity is limited across the islands and much of the interior, so a power bank does as much for your connectivity as any data plan. Avoid demonstrations and the area around the presidential palace in Bissau during the run-up to the December 2026 elections, and keep your phone out of sight when passing military posts.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which network will a Guinea-Bissau eSIM use, and does it matter which seller I pick?
All three sellers use Orange Bissau. Nomad identifies it by its network code, 632-03, Airalo lists Orange as the primary network, and Holafly names Orange Bissau. Because the towers are the same, coverage in Bissau, on the islands and in the interior will be identical whichever you buy. Pick on price and plan length: Nomad is the cheapest, Airalo the shortest, and Holafly the only unlimited option.
Is MTN still operating in Guinea-Bissau?
No, not under that name. MTN completed the sale of its Guinea-Bissau business, Spacetel, to the Telecel Group in August 2024, and the network now trades as Telecel Guine-Bissau. Lusa estimated it held about 30 percent of the mobile market at the time. No travel eSIM uses Telecel, so for a visitor the practical choice is Orange, whether by eSIM or by buying an Orange SIM in Bissau.
How much cheaper is an Orange SIM bought in Bissau?
Considerably. The SIM itself is 250 francs, and a 3.2 GB pass valid for 30 days costs 2,500 francs, which is about 3.81 euros. That is roughly 1.20 euros a gigabyte, against about 5.70 dollars a gigabyte on Nomad's 3 GB plan. The trade-off is time: you need a passport, an agency open on a weekday or Saturday morning, and a queue. For a short trip, the eSIM's convenience is worth the difference.
Will I have signal on the Bijagos islands?
Around the main settlements, mostly yes. Bubaque town and its jetty have Orange coverage, and so does the area around most lodges on the larger islands. Remote beaches, smaller islets, Orango and the Joao Vieira-Poilao marine park are patchy at best, and the boat crossings lose signal for long stretches. Holafly's own Guinea-Bissau page warns about exactly these areas. Tell people back home that you may be out of contact for a day or two.
Can I buy a SIM card at Osvaldo Vieira airport when I land?
We could not confirm a permanent SIM counter inside the terminal, and Orange lists its agencies in the city, starting with the main office on Praca dos Herois Nacionais. Agencies open weekdays from 08:00 to 17:00 and on Saturday mornings until noon, and are closed on Sunday. If you arrive on an evening or weekend flight, an eSIM installed before you leave home is the only way to be sure of data on the drive into town.
Will my Guinea-Bissau eSIM carry on working in Senegal?
No. The country plans from Airalo, Nomad and Holafly cover Guinea-Bissau only. If you are heading north through Sao Domingos toward Ziguinchor and the Casamance, either buy a separate Senegal plan or take Airalo's Africa regional pack, which covers both countries on one eSIM but costs more than the Guinea-Bissau plans. Our Senegal guide covers what works on the other side of the border.