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Burkina Faso: Best Tourist eSIMs Reviewed (2024)

Burkina Faso is certainly not the popular travel destination in (West) Africa.

But it still has a lot to offer.

So, what are your local or travel eSIM options for Burkina Faso?

You can get an eSIM for Burkina Faso for as little as 9.50 USD from Airalo (Volta).

I will also introduce you to a few global eSIMs that be used in Burkina Faso and 80+ other countries, including Burkina Faso's neighbors, for competitive rates.

This guide contains affiliate links. Purchases made through affiliate links may provide a commission for us at no extra cost to you.
Buying an eSIM for Burkina Faso Guide (logos of Hello Africa, Volta & Airalo)

Original publication: 18th of December 2022. Last updated: 7th of March 2024.

Table of Contents

In This Guide Show

Airalo Volta eSIM for Burkina Faso

Airalo Logo
© Airalo

Airalo is the most popular eSIM platform, covering around 190 countries (more than any other eSIM platform out there).

That is because it is the largest and oldest eSIM platform worldwide.

Airalo has an eSIM that can be used in Burkina Faso: Volta.

Burkina Faso Volta eSIM Airalo
© Airalo

Travel eSIM providers like Airalo set up roaming agreements with local mobile operators.

But do not get too worried about the term roaming – you will not get a 3000 USD roaming bill.

What Airalo does, and basically all mobile operators do, is partner up with a local mobile operator so that their customers can still stay connected when abroad.

In Burkina Faso, the Airalo Volta eSIM uses the Orange BF network up to 4G/LTE (no 5G NR yet).

Orange Logo
© Orange

Be aware: most travel eSIMs, including Airalo's Burkina Faso Volta eSIM, are data-only eSIMs, so you cannot call or text with them (nor can you receive any calls or SMS).

  1. Burkina Faso/Volta 1 GB eSIM for 7 days, costing 7 USD
  2. Burkina Faso/Volta 2 GB eSIM for 15 days, costing 12.50 USD
  3. Burkina Faso/Volta 3 GB eSIM for 30 days, costing 17.50 USD
  4. Burkina Faso/Volta 5 GB eSIM for 30 days, costing 26.50 USD
Airalo Burkina Faso Volta eSIM with Prices
See the list above for up-to-date prices and allowances. The figures in this image may be outdated.

What makes things even more pleasant is that you can top up your eSIM when it is expiring or when you are out of data without the need to purchase a new eSIM.

But you may think that a local SIM card or eSIM will (still) be cheaper than Airalo or any other travel eSIM.

And you are right – that is true in most cases.

However, you will have to deal with the Burkinabé SIM card registration laws.

(Why does this matter? Because hackers can steal your (critical) personal data if the mobile operator does not secure your data properly, like what happened in Australia (10 million Optus customers were affected, where info, like passport numbers, were stolen (including mine – luckily not my passport number but my boyfriend was not as lucky) or Indonesia (1.3 billion SIM card-related data was hacked)).

Most mobile operators in Africa will only sell you (overpriced) tourist SIM cards (when available) or the most expensive plans because of “mandatory new plan requirements” (which are often lies to take more of your money).

  • Find out which countries have SIM card registration regulations and what is required from you (lookup tool)
SIM Card Registration Worldwide Tool by Phone Travel Wiz

So yes, you could get cheaper plans, but the question is if you can actually get them.

Oh, you should also be aware of the following, you can get up to 4G/LTE connections with the Airalo Burkina Faso Volta eSIM, your speeds will most likely not be faster than someone using a local SIM card.

That is because you are roaming on the Zain Burkina Faso network instead of being a native customers

But that does not mean you will have (extremely) slow speeds – just (slightly) slower than native customers.

Anyway, the Airalo Burkina Faso Volta eSIM is fantastic and is the eSIM I, and many Phone Travel Wiz readers, recommend the most.

The eSIMs are affordable, the data allowances can be tailored to your needs (1 GB only, but unlimited top-ups are available) & you will have a smooth network experience (in most cases).

Airalo Travel eSIM Reviews by Phone Travel Wiz

Local Burkinabé eSIM for Prepaid Customers

If you want the best and full network experience, including being able to call and text, you want to get a local eSIM.

You have two mobile operators in Burkina Faso: Orange and Telmob.

Currently, only Orange Burkina Faso offer(s) eSIMs, but not for prepaid customers.

For more information about the plans offered by Orange, check out my Burkina Faso SIM card buying guide.

International eSIM for Burkina Faso & More Countries

Okay, I went over the Burkina Faso travel eSIM options offered by Airalo.

As expected, these eSIMs can only be used in Burkina Faso and not in neighboring Benin, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Mali, or Togo.

So what if you plan on visiting any of those countries, or you are on a world tour and wish to use one eSIM in multiple countries – do you have any other options?

Yes, you do. Airalo have regional, global & international eSIMs covering at least 80 countries; some include Burkina Faso too.

So let's see which multi-country eSIMs can be used in Burkina Faso and other countries, including Burkina Faso's neighbors.

Airalo Hello Africa eSIM

Hello Africa Africa eSIM Airalo
© Airalo

Airalo also has the Hello Africa eSIM covering 26 countries with two variants: 1 GB/30 days – very popular with PTW readers and 3 GB/30 days – most popular with PTW readers.

Like Asia, the Caribbean, Europe & Latin America, many readers tend to visit multiple African countries, so they would rather have a travel eSIM covering multiple countries than just one.

The Hello Africa eSIM can be used in 27 countries in Africa:

  • Algeria
  • Botswana
  • Burkina Faso
  • Cameroon
  • Central African Republic
  • Chad
  • Congo, Democratic Republic of (Kinshasa)
  • Congo, Republic of (Brazzaville)
  • Eswatini (Swaziland) 1
  • Gabon
  • Ghana
  • Guinea 1
  • Guinea-Bissau
  • Ivory Coast
  • Kenya
  • Liberia
  • Madagascar
  • Malawi
  • Namibia 1
  • Nigeria
  • Rwanda
  • Senegal
  • Sierra Leone
  • Tanzania
  • Tunisia
  • Uganda
  • South Africa

1 on 3G only

Airalo Hello Africa eSIM Eligible Countries Map Infographic by Phone Travel Wiz (October 2023 Version)

Do you think the map above is nice, but you want a country list instead (because you do not recognize the countries on a map🗿)? You can find it in my Airalo review!

Below is an overview of how much each Hello Africa eSIM costs:

  1. Africa/Hello Africa 1 GB eSIM for 30 days, costing 27 USD – very popular with Phone Travel Wiz readers
  2. Africa/Hello Africa 3 GB eSIM for 30 days, costing 59 USD – most popular with Phone Travel Wiz readers

Note: Phone Travel Wiz reader popularity ranking was updated in December based on data up to the 30th of December (2023 data only). The (promotional) prices were updated on the 31st of January.

With the Hello Africa eSIM, you can save a lot of money by skipping the initial SIM card costs per country you visit.

Overview of the Best eSIMs for Burkina Faso (Airalo)

In this guide, I went over Airalo's Volta as the only (reasonably priced) eSIM for the Burkina Faso.

I recognize that there are other eSIM providers that do offer services for Burkina Faso.

But they are either crazy expensive or the quality of service is whack (based on my experience or the experiences of other Phone Travel Wiz readers).

But you are free to try them out and let me know if they were any good 😀.

Buying a SIM Card in Burkina Faso

Want to just use a SIM card but not your current one because roaming will be criminally expensive?

Consider getting a Burkinabé SIM card instead – local SIM cards are the cheapest way to stay connected abroad.