Guinea eSIM and Mobile Data Guide

Guinea, the country with Conakry as its capital, is sold by all three providers we track, and every one of them leans on Orange Guinee. We checked each listing is Guinea itself and not Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea or Papua New Guinea. The cheapest way to buy depends on how long you stay. For three days, Holafly's unlimited plan at 20.90 dollars undercuts Airalo's 3 GB pack. For a week, Airalo's 3 GB at 25 dollars is the cheapest. For anything longer, Nomad sells the same 3 GB for 25 dollars over a full month. None of them comes close to Orange's own bundles, which have been published at around 50,000 Guinean francs, under 6 dollars, for 6 GB a month. The case for the eSIM here is the first day or two, not the price: data working at Gbessia airport, and no passport registration queue before your first meeting. The eSIM Finder will help you size the allowance.

Quick Pick: the Best eSIM for Guinea

Nomad (Guinea 3 GB / 30 days): 25 dollars buys 3 GB that lasts a month, the same price as Airalo's seven-day 3 GB, and Nomad is the only seller that lists both Orange and the former MTN network. On a trip of three days or less, Holafly's 20.90 dollar unlimited plan is the better buy.

Guinea eSIM Plans Compared

Indicative pricing. Tap through for live rates.

Airalo Guinea Plans

Airalo's Guinea page is the plainest of the three. It says the eSIM operates on the Orange network in Guinea, it shows the operator label Guinea Miyahu (an internal brand you will see on your phone, not on a shop sign in Conakry), and it sells exactly three packages: 1 GB for three days at 9.50 dollars, 3 GB for three days at 24, and 3 GB for seven days at 25. We checked that this is Guinea itself; Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea and Papua New Guinea all have separate listings.

The Orange part is the good news. Orange Guinee has the widest footprint in the country and it is the network you most want when you leave Conakry for Kindia or the Fouta Djallon. The bad news is the shelf. Nothing runs longer than a week, nothing is bigger than 3 GB, and there is no unlimited option. The 3 GB over three days at 24 dollars is also a strange product, since Holafly sells three days with no cap for 20.90 and Airalo's own seven-day version of the same 3 GB costs only a dollar more.

So the one Airalo plan worth buying is the 3 GB week at 25 dollars, and only if you specifically want a product tied to Orange alone. For a trip longer than a week you would be buying a second pack, and at that point Nomad's thirty-day plans are the better structure.

Holafly Guinea Plans

Guinea is one of the few countries where Holafly undercuts a metered plan. Three days of unlimited data costs 20.90 dollars, against 24 dollars for Airalo's 3 GB over the same three days, and for anyone who needs the connection to just work through a short mission, that is the obvious buy. One day is 9.90, five days 31.90, a week 39.90, ten days 47.90, a fortnight 63.90 and a month 112.90.

Past five days, the comparison turns. A week of Holafly costs 15 dollars more than Airalo's 3 GB week, and a month costs more than three of Nomad's 5 GB plans. Hotspot sharing is capped at 1 GB a day, so it will not run an office from a laptop in Kaloum.

The network list is the odd part. Holafly names Orange Guinee Conakry, which is clear, and SOTELGUI SA, the old state telecoms company. Sotelgui collapsed around 2012 and the government's replacement, Guinee Telecom, has been delayed for years, so that second name is probably a stale label rather than a live network. Read the Holafly product as an Orange product. Holafly's own coverage note warns of weak or absent service in parts of the Fouta Djallon highlands, Forest Guinea and around Mount Nimba, which matches what every operator delivers there.

Nomad Guinea Plans

Nomad is usually the cheap entry point on this site, and in Guinea it is not. Its smallest plan is 1 GB for seven days at 15 dollars, more than half again Airalo's 9.50. Where Nomad pulls ahead is length. Its 3 GB plan costs 25 dollars, exactly the same as Airalo's 3 GB, but lasts thirty days instead of seven, and its 5 GB month at 35 dollars is the largest metered allowance anyone sells for the country.

Nomad's page names two networks, MTN and Orange. That MTN label needs a footnote. MTN Group sold out of Guinea at the end of 2024, and a presidential decree in December 2025 made the Guinean state the sole owner of Areeba Guinee, the company that ran the MTN network. The towers and the customers did not disappear, and the network still operates, but the company behind it is now state owned rather than part of the South African group. When your phone shows the second network, that is what it is.

Having two networks on the list is a real advantage in a country where coverage outside Conakry is thin and uneven. Where one operator has no mast, the other sometimes does, and Nomad is the only product here that says it can use both.

Mobile Networks in Guinea

Orange Guinee is the network that matters. It is the largest operator in the country, the one Airalo and Holafly name as their host, and the one most likely to still have a bar when the road leaves the coast. Inside Conakry, from the Kaloum peninsula out through Dixinn, Ratoma and Kipe, it runs 4G; further inland the picture becomes 3G around the regional capitals and 2G or nothing in between.

What happened to MTN. For two decades the second network was MTN Guinee, run through a company called Areeba Guinee. After years of regulatory disputes and fines, MTN Group sold its stake to the Guinean state in a deal that closed on 30 December 2024, and on 17 December 2025 a presidential decree made the state the sole owner of Areeba. The network still runs as a commercial company under public ownership. Nomad still lists it as MTN, which is how many phones and many Guineans still describe it, but it is no longer part of the MTN group. The government's long-planned Guinee Telecom, meant to replace the bankrupt historic operator Sotelgui, has been delayed repeatedly, and officials have floated merging it with Areeba. If you see SOTELGUI on Holafly's list, that is the reason, not a third network you can rely on. Cellcom has been the smallest of the operators; no travel eSIM uses it.

Buying a local SIM. Guinea's regulator, the ARPT, tightened SIM sales in 2021. Under decision D/001/ARPT/CNRPT/2021, foreigners must register with a passport, each person is limited to three SIMs per operator, and selling pre-activated SIMs is banned, with fines of 10 million Guinean francs per card. In practice that means buying at an Orange agency in town, not from a street vendor, and handing over your passport for registration. Orange's data passes are activated on *222# or through its Max it app. The figures most recently published put the weekly passes at 14,000 francs for 1.5 GB and 31,000 for 3.5 GB, and monthly passes at 50,000 for 6 GB, 105,000 for 13 GB and 260,000 for 34 GB. At roughly 8,600 francs to the dollar, 6 GB for a month is under 6 dollars, against 35 dollars for Nomad's 5 GB. Treat those as indicative: Orange's own site refused connections when we checked on 12 October 2026, and the published list is not dated. Even if prices have doubled, the local SIM wins on cost by a wide margin.

Coverage Across Guinea

Coverage where travelers actually go:

How to Choose the Right Plan

Choosing well in Guinea starts with being honest about the local SIM. Orange's bundles cost a small fraction of any eSIM, so the eSIM's job here is to cover the arrival and the days before a local line is registered, or to cover a trip too short to bother with the paperwork. Pick the eSIM for the length of that job, not for your whole stay.

Three days or fewer: Holafly. Unlimited for 20.90 dollars over three days is cheaper than Airalo's 3 GB over the same period, and it means no counter to watch while you sort out meetings, drivers and the hotel. A single day at 9.90 dollars covers a one-night stopover.

Four to seven days: Airalo or Nomad at 25 dollars. Both sell 3 GB at that price. Airalo's lasts a week on Orange alone; Nomad's lasts a month and lists the former MTN network as well. Unless you have a reason to want Orange only, Nomad's version is the same money for more time and a second network.

Longer stays and NGO or mining postings: an Orange SIM, with Nomad as the bridge. If you are in Conakry for two weeks or heading out to the Boke bauxite coast or the mines around Siguiri, register an Orange SIM at an agency with your passport and buy a monthly pass. Use Nomad's 3 GB or 5 GB plan for the days before the local line is active, and keep it as a backup when Orange is down in your area. Remember that only registered local lines can use Orange Money, which many drivers and small businesses prefer to cash.

Overland trips. Guinea borders six countries, and travellers cross at Pamelap into Sierra Leone, at Kouremale toward Bamako in Mali, and through the north toward Senegal. A Guinea eSIM stops at each border. Buy separate plans for the neighbours or a regional pack, and download offline maps before you leave Conakry, because the stretches between border towns are where coverage fails first.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I make sure I am buying Guinea and not Guinea-Bissau?

Check the country name and, where it is shown, the code. Guinea is GIN, with Conakry as its capital; Guinea-Bissau is a separate country to the north-west with its own listings, as are Equatorial Guinea and Papua New Guinea. We opened all three products on this page: Airalo's says it runs on Orange in Guinea, Nomad's is titled Guinea and names MTN and Orange, and Holafly's uses the GIN code and lists Orange Guinee Conakry.

Does MTN still operate in Guinea?

The network does, but MTN does not. MTN Group sold its Guinean business to the state in a deal that closed at the end of 2024, and a decree in December 2025 made the state the sole owner of Areeba Guinee, the company that runs it. The towers and customers carried on. Nomad still lists the network as MTN, so if your phone connects to it on a Nomad plan, that is the state-owned former MTN network, not something new.

Why is a local Orange SIM so much cheaper?

Because travel eSIMs pay wholesale roaming rates while Orange prices for the Guinean market. Published Orange passes have put 6 GB for a month at 50,000 Guinean francs, under 6 dollars, where the cheapest monthly eSIM here is 25 dollars for 3 GB. The cost of the local SIM is time and paperwork rather than money: a visit to an Orange agency, your passport, and registration under the 2021 ARPT rules before the line works.

Can I buy a SIM from a street seller in Conakry?

You may be offered one, but the regulator banned the sale of pre-activated SIMs in 2021 and fines operators heavily for it, and a SIM registered to someone else can be cut off at any time. Buy from an Orange agency or an authorised shop, register it in your own name with your passport, and you will have a line that keeps working and can use Orange Money.

Will I have signal hiking in the Fouta Djallon?

In the towns, yes: Dalaba, Pita, Labe and Mamou all have Orange service. On the trails to the waterfalls and through the plateau villages you will often have none for hours at a time. Download offline maps and walking routes in Conakry or at your hotel, and tell someone your route. Holafly's own coverage note names the Fouta Djallon as an area of limited service, and the same applies to every provider.

Does the internet get cut during political unrest?

It has been several times. Social media was blocked around the March 2020 referendum, connectivity was disrupted for about 100 hours around the October 2020 presidential result, and major platforms were restricted during protests in May 2023. A travel eSIM uses the same Guinean networks and is affected in the same way. Keep offline copies of documents and a fallback way to reach your organisation if you travel during a tense period.