On price alone, a Mozambican SIM is one of the best deals anywhere on this site: Vodacom sells 16 GB for 30 days for 500 meticais, a little under 8 dollars. The cheapest travel eSIM for the country costs 21 dollars for 5 GB on exactly the same network. What the eSIM saves you is the registration. Since Decree 13/2023, every new line has to be registered in person with a valid document, a fingerprint scan and a facial photo, and the decree sets the minimum age for registering a line in your own name at 21. That last rule quietly excludes a lot of gap-year travellers, and the counter queue excludes anyone arriving after shop hours or rolling across the Lebombo border with a long drive still ahead.
What This Guide Covers
Jump to the section most relevant to you
Vodacom, Movitel and a Shrinking Tmcel
Three networks operate here and they are not equals. Vodacom Mozambique is the clear leader, majority owned by the Johannesburg-based Vodacom group, and it is the network you will see on most phones in Maputo and down the southern coast. Its prefixes are 84 and 85. Movitel, launched in 2012 by Vietnam's Viettel with a local partner, grew by building towers in rural districts first, and it is the one that tends to keep a signal in parts of the interior where Vodacom thins out. Its numbers start with 86 or 87. Tmcel is the state operator created in 2019 from the merger of mcel and the old fixed-line company TDM; it is the smallest of the three, carries a reputation for financial trouble, and is not the card to buy for a holiday.
The M-Pesa factor
A Vodacom line is more than data. M-Pesa, Vodacom's mobile money service, is how many guesthouses, drivers and market traders in Mozambique prefer to be paid, and a registered Vodacom number is the only way a visitor can join in. Movitel runs its own e-Mola wallet. Neither is available through a travel eSIM, which gives you data and nothing else. If you are staying long enough to want to pay a Tofo surf school or a Vilankulo dhow captain by phone, that alone justifies the local card.
For a typical coastal itinerary the choice is simple: Vodacom for Maputo, Ponta do Ouro, Inhambane, Tofo and Vilankulo; Movitel as a second card only if the route goes deep inland, to Gorongosa or the Niassa side of the country.
What Vodacom Charges in Meticais
The figures below are Vodacom's published prepaid data offers, activated by dialling *111# and choosing option 5 for Internet. They convert at roughly 64 meticais to the US dollar, a rate that has barely moved for several years.
| Bundle | Data | Validity | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Semanal 100 | 2.9 GB | 7 days | 100 MT (about $1.55) |
| Semanal 300 | 9.7 GB | 7 days | 300 MT (about $4.70) |
| Mensal 200 | 5.8 GB | 30 days | 200 MT (about $3.10) |
| Mensal 500 | 16.2 GB | 30 days | 500 MT (about $7.80) |
| Mensal 1000 | 32.5 GB | 30 days | 1,000 MT (about $15.60) |
| Infinito 500 | 8.1 GB | No expiry | 500 MT (about $7.80) |
| Airalo eSIM | 5 GB | 30 days | $21 |
| Nomad eSIM | 10 GB | 30 days | $45 |
The gap is not close. A month with 16 GB from Vodacom costs less than half of Airalo's 5 GB, and the eSIMs ride the very same towers. The Infinito bundles deserve a mention for travellers who come and go: the data never expires, so 8 GB bought on one trip is still there when you cross back from South Africa months later, as long as the line itself stays active.
Small print worth knowing
The SIM card itself is cheap in a Vodacom shop, and the bundle is the real spend. Hotel kiosks and the airport tend to sell pre-loaded packs priced in dollars at a large markup, so if you have the time, buy the bare line and add a bundle yourself. Promotions on social-media and night-time data change often; ask what is running before you pay.
Fingerprints, a Face Scan and the Age-21 Rule
Mozambique overhauled SIM registration with Decree 13/2023 of 11 April 2023. The new system was piloted from January 2024, became compulsory in the second half of that year, and lines left unregistered have faced blocking since 2025. Every subscriber receives a NUTEL, a unique telecom identity number generated by the regulator INCM that follows you across operators. For a visitor, the practical effect is that buying a card is an in-person process with biometric capture, and nobody can register a line on your behalf.
What happens at the counter
1. Bring your physical passport. Vodacom also accepts a driving licence, but a passport avoids any argument.
2. Staff fill in the registration form with you, digitally or on paper.
3. Your fingerprints and a facial photo are captured at the desk.
4. Put the card in your phone promptly. Vodacom's terms give you 15 days to insert a newly registered SIM, after which the registration is cancelled.
5. Buy a bundle through *111#, or ask the staff to load it before you leave.
Under 21? Read this before you queue
Vodacom's own registration page states that the obligation and the right to register a personal number apply to nationals and foreigners aged 21 or over. Applicants between 16 and 20 can only be registered with the in-person consent of a registered adult, who links the line to their own NUTEL. A 19-year-old backpacker arriving alone in Maputo therefore cannot simply walk in and buy a line, and an eSIM is the straightforward answer. Each adult can hold up to five registrations.
In time terms, a quiet Vodacom shop can finish the whole process in fifteen to thirty minutes. A busy one on a Saturday morning in central Maputo can take well over an hour, and the shops keep office hours.
Where to Buy a Card in Maputo and on the Coast
The most reliable places are Vodacom's own branded shops, because they have the biometric equipment and the staff who handle foreign passports regularly. In Maputo there are branches in the Baixa and in the main shopping centres, and your hotel reception will know the nearest one. Vodacom also authorises partner shops and street resellers to register lines, though a street reseller is more likely to sell top-up credit than to complete a biometric registration for a foreigner.
Heading north first?
If you plan to drive straight up the EN1 to Tofo or Vilankulo, buy the card in Maputo before you set off. Inhambane and Vilankulo both have Vodacom shops, but Tofo itself is a village, and the beach lodges between Xai-Xai and Inhambane are a long way from any branded counter. Top-up vouchers are sold almost everywhere, from roadside stalls to petrol stations, so recharging is easy once the line is registered.
Carry meticais. Card payment works in the malls and branded shops, but cash is expected almost everywhere else, and US dollars or rand are accepted only at a poor rate. ATMs are plentiful in Maputo and in the larger coastal towns.
Driving In Through Lebombo with a South African SIM
A large share of Mozambique's visitors arrive by road from South Africa, through the Lebombo post on the South African side and Ressano Garcia on the Mozambican side. The crossing normally runs from 06:00 to midnight, with 24-hour opening for passengers at Easter and over the December holiday season, and Maputo is roughly 95 km further on along the EN4 toll road. Others come via Kosi Bay to Ponta do Ouro, or through the Kruger park and the Giriyondo gate into Limpopo National Park.
Roaming in versus a local card
A South African contract or prepaid line keeps working once it crosses, but it roams. Vodacom South Africa's Travel Data bundles start at R99 for 1 GB over seven days, which is fine for a long weekend in Maputo and expensive for anything longer: a Mozambican Vodacom card gives you roughly 16 GB for a month for less than the price of that single roaming gigabyte. Near Ressano Garcia and Ponta do Ouro, your phone may also bounce between networks on both sides of the border, so watch which one it is on if you are paying roaming rates.
For South Africans the sensible pattern is to keep the home SIM in for calls and OTPs from banks, and to add data for the Mozambican side. That data can be a local card bought in Maputo, or, if you want it working at the border itself rather than after the drive, an eSIM installed at home before leaving. Dual-SIM phones make both options easy. There is no reliable place to buy and register a card at the Ressano Garcia post itself, so do not plan on it.
Which One Fits Your Trip
The honest split, in a country where the local card is dramatically cheaper and the registration is genuinely more involved than most.
Buy a Vodacom card when
Use an eSIM when
If you go the eSIM route, remember that all three providers resell Vodacom, so you lose nothing on coverage by buying the cheapest. The Mozambique eSIM guide has the verified prices side by side, the Maputo airport guide covers what the arrivals area offers, and the eSIM Finder will size a plan for your dates. The Holafly review explains when its unlimited days are worth the premium.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does a month of data cost on a local Vodacom line?
Vodacom's Mensal 500 bundle gives about 16 GB for 30 days at 500 meticais, a little under 8 dollars. Smaller months start at 100 meticais for 2 GB, and 1,000 meticais buys around 32 GB. You activate them by dialling *111# and choosing the Internet option, or ask the shop to load one when you buy the card.
Can a traveller under 21 register a SIM in Mozambique?
Not alone. Under Decree 13/2023, as Vodacom applies it, personal registration is for nationals and foreigners aged 21 and over. People aged 16 to 20 need a registered adult to authorise the line in person and link it to their own NUTEL. A young traveller on their own is better off with an eSIM bought before the trip.
Why do they take my fingerprints when I buy a card?
Because the 2023 registration overhaul made biometric capture compulsory for all subscribers. Fingerprints and a facial photo are stored against a unique telecom identity number issued by INCM, the regulator. It applies to locals and visitors alike, and it is why one person cannot register lines for a whole group.
Is it worth keeping my South African SIM on in Maputo?
For calls and banking messages, yes. For data, only on a short trip. Vodacom South Africa's Travel Data starts at R99 for 1 GB over a week, while a local Vodacom Mozambique bundle gives far more data for the same money. Most South Africans run both in a dual-SIM phone and use the Mozambican line or an eSIM for data.
Which card is best for Gorongosa or the interior?
Movitel is often the stronger network in the rural centre and north, because it built there first. Vodacom is better on the southern coast and in the cities. If your route covers both, a Vodacom card for the coast and a Movitel card for the interior is a cheap combination, and both need the same biometric registration.