Equatorial Guinea: 2 Best Prepaid SIM Cards Buying Guide (2023)

When planning on visiting Equatorial Guinea, you are probably wondering how to stay connected in the country. Buying a local prepaid SIM card, like an Equatoguinean, is often the most affordable way to stay connected because international roaming has proven to be more expensive in many cases.

You may have heard that mobile data rates are one of the highest in Equatorial Guinea on a continental level. Together with Zimbabwe, Guinea-Bissau, Chad, Libya, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and South Africa, getting 1 GB of data will cost you more than 10 USD.

To some, these are reasonable prices. For African standards, however, this is expensive.

In this article, I will go over everything you need to know about buying a SIM card in Equatorial Guinea. Let’s do this.

Original publication: 5th of August 2020. Last updated: 17th of February 2023.

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Table of Contents

Mobile Operators, Networks, and Frequencies in Equatorial Guinea

Equatorial-Guinea has 2 GSM telecom operators offering prepaid services easily accessible to travelers:

• Getesa
• Muni

Both operators have 2G and 3G networks. 4G/LTE is not available yet, but both operators are planning on launching 4G/LTE soon.

There is also a third operator called Gecomsa. Gecomsa uses CDMA, which is incompatible with GSM phones. Only a handful of countries, such as the United States, Japan, South Korea, and Russia, use CMDA, and most of their operators are planning on shutting down their CDMA network in the near future. Since CDMA phones are not popular nowadays (and incompatible with GSM phones), Gecomsa will not be covered in this article.

The following frequencies are used by the Equatoguinean operators:

• 2G: 900 MHz & 1800 MHz
• 3G: 900 MHz & 1800 MHz

Best SIM Card in Equatorial Guinea

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SIM Card Registration Regulations in Equatorial Guinea

Just like most countries in Central Africa, and Africa in general, you have to register your passport details to buy a SIM card in Equatorial Guinea.

The State of the Telecom Market in Equatorial Guinea

(If you are simply interested in getting a SIM card in Equatorial Guinea, click here to jump to the first operator.)

Equatorial Guinea is next to the ocean, which means it is connected to several submarine cables. This is essential to know because most landlocked African countries have slow speeds and bad connections because the country has to rely on neighboring countries for fiber bandwidth.

The issue is that there is massive inequality in terms of internet access in Equatorial Guinea. Although internet services are widespread throughout the country, the quality of service is lacking due to the lack of proper broadband infrastructure. A country can have access to multiple submarine cables. However, if the domestic internet infrastructure is lacking, then the locals cannot take advantage of the connection.

According to a study done by cable.co.uk, the mean download speed in Equatorial Guinea is less than 1 Mbps. In other words, it would take more than 22 hours to download a 5 GB file. This study focused on broadband speeds. Mobile speeds are often slower than broadband speeds, so one should not expect fast speeds in Equatorial Guinea.

Moreover, (mobile) internet is expensive in Equatorial Guinea. According to a study done by the Alliance 4 Affordable Internet, the average cost of 1 GB of data in Equatorial Guinea is 34.25 USD compared to the Central African average of 8.12 USD. That is much more than the African average of 6.45 USD/GB. Together with Zimbabwe, Equatorial Guinea is the most expensive African nation to buy data.

In short, mobile data is expensive in Equatorial Guinea. In some cases, it may be worth to roam with your provider if they offer lower rates than offered by the Equatoguinean operators. Do note that if you plan on roaming in the country, you will experience even slower speeds because Getesa and Muni will prioritize the traffic of their customers over roaming traffic.

Currency in Equatorial Guinea

Equatorial Guinea uses the Central African CFA France with the symbol XAF (which will be used throughout this article), which should NOT be confused with the West African CFA Franc with the symbol XOF. Prices in Equatorial Guinea are listed in (F)CFA. For example, 25 XAF is 25(F)CFA. For reference, below are some exchange rates between XAF and USD (US Dollars – Rounded):

• 10 XAF = 0.15 USD
• 100 XAF = 0.15 USD
• 1000 XAF = 1.60 USD
• 10 000 XAF = 16.20 USD
• 100 000 XAF = 162.15 USD
• 1 000 000 XAF = 1621.60 USD

For up-to-date XAF:USD exchange rates, search XAF to USD on Google, or replace USD with the currency you use.

Equatoguinean Prepaid SIM Cards

Below, I will guide you through Getesa and Muni and go through:

• Background information
• SIM card types, prices, and availability
• Recharge / top-up information
• Combo plans, data plans, and special packs (such as social media packs)

With that being said, let’s see what Getesa and Muni have to offer to us.

Getesa

Getesa is the largest operator in Equatorial-Guinea. They also have the best coverage throughout the country,

SIM Card Price – Getesa

You can buy a Getesa SIM card for 2000 XAF in Getesa stores. The SIM card comes with 2000 XAF in credit. Dial #222# to check your Getesa balance. Call 333 to change the system language.

Getesa Internet Packages, Plans, Bundles & Offers

Getesa has data-only packages called Paquetes de datos de Prepago. The following data packs are available, which can be activated by dialing *100#:

Price	Data	Validity
500 XAF	30 MB	24 hours
900 XAF	65 MB	24 hours
1800 XAF	160 MB	24 hours
2500 XAF	320 MB	24 hours
3300 XAF	500 MB	24 hours
3000 XAF	250 MB	7 days
6000 XAF	500 MB	7 days
9000 XAF	1 GB	7 days
12 000 XAF	2 GB	7 days
10 000 XAF	1 GB	30 days
16 000 XAF	2 GB	30 days
30 000 XAF	4 GB	30 days
40 000 XAF	6 GB	30 days
50 000 XAF	8 GB	30 days
60 000 XAF	10 GB	30 days

Getesa APN Settings

In most cases, your phone will retrieve the correct APN settings automatically. If you need to enter it manually, then you need the following details (do not add anything not mentioned below):

• Name: Getesa
• APN: internet

Muni

Muni is the other GSM operator in Equatorial Guinea. When excluding Gecomsa, the CDMA operator, Muni is the smallest operator in the country. Muni’s coverage is worse than the one of Getesa.

SIM Card Price – Muni

You can buy a Muni SIM card for 1500 XAF in Muni stores. You may have to call 333 to activate your Muni SIM card after purchase if the salesperson does not do that for you. Top-up vouchers are widely available. To top-up, dial *222# and follow the instructions. Dial *555# to check your Muni balance.

Muni Internet Packages, Plans, Bundles & Offers

Muni has a combo plan called Mi Uno and data-only bundles, which is referred to as internet.

Muni Mi Uno

The Mi Uno plans are short-term combo plans that come with data, minutes, and SMS. The following two options are available, which can be activated by dialing *123# and selecting option 3:

Price	Data	Minutes	SMS	Validity
1000 XAF	15 MB	5 minutes	50 SMS	1 day
7500 XAF	200 MB	25 minutes	250 SMS	7 days

Muni Tarifas de Internet (Data Packages)

The internet packages are standard data-only packages. The following six options are available:

Price	Data	Validity
500 XAF	15 MB	1 day
2500 XAF	100 MB	1 day
5000 XAF	200 MB	7 days
10 000 XAF	500 MB	7 days
20 000 XAF	1 GB	30 days
40 000 XAF	2.5 GB	30 days

Muni APN Settings

In most cases, your phone will retrieve the correct APN settings automatically. If you need to enter it manually, then you need the following details (do not add anything not mentioned below):

• Name: Muni
• APN: Muni

The Preferred Way to Stay Connected When Traveling in Equatorial Guinea

Getting a SIM card from Getesa (best coverage and affordable) would do you well considering an Equatoguinean SIM card.