Guinea-Bissau: Buy the Best SIM Cards | 2024 Guide

Guinea-Bissau often gets confused with Equatorial Guinea in Central Africa and Guinea (Conakry), which is also in West Africa. My partner even confused it with French Guinea in South America. Guinea-Bissau.

Guinea-Bissau has a lot to offer, which you probably want to share online. International roaming can be super expensive, which is why many travelers prefer to buy local prepaid SIM cards, like a Bissau-Guinean (yes, that is the demonym of Guinea-Bissau).

Luckily, mobile data is affordable compared to the world’s average, which makes it another reason why you should buy a SIM card in Guinea-Bissau.

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

Original publication: 17th of June 2020. Last updated: 7th of November 2023.

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Table of Contents

Mobile Operators, Networks & Frequencies in Guinea-Bissau

Guinea-Bissau has 2 mobile operators offering prepaid services easily accessible to travelers:

• Orange Guinea-Bissau (Orange Bissau)
• MTN Guinea-Bissau (MTN Guiné Bissau)

Both operators have 2G, 3G, and 4G/LTE networks.

The following frequencies are used by the Bissau-Guinean operators:

• 2G: 900 MHz & 1800 MHz
• 3G: 2100 MHz
• 4G/LTE: 1800 (Band 3)

Best SIM Card in Guinea-Bissau

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SIM Card Registration Regulations in Guinea-Bissau

Like most countries in West Africa, and Africa in general, you have to register your passport details when buying a SIM card in Guinea-Bissau.

Currency in Guinea-Bissau

Guinea-Bissau uses the West African Franc with the symbol XOF (which will be used throughout this article). Prices in Guinea-Bissau are listed in (F)CFA. For example, 25 XOF is (F)CFA 25. For reference, below are some exchange rates between XOF and USD (US Dollars – Rounded):

• 10 XOF = 0.15 USD
• 100 XOF = 0.15 USD
• 1000 XOF = 1.65 USD
• 10 000 XOF = 16.35 USD
• 100 000 KMF = 163.30 USD

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

Bissau-Guinean Prepaid SIM Cards

Below, I will guide you through Orange Guinea-Bissau and MTN Guinea-Bissau 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 Orange Guinea-Bissau and MTN Guinea-Bissau have to offer to us.

Orange Guinea-Bissau

Orange Guinea-Bissau, officially Orange Bissau but will be referred to as just “Orange,” has the best coverage in Guinea-Bissau. They are also, on average, the cheapest. 4G/LTE can be found in the following areas:

SIM Card Price – Orange

You can buy an Orange SIM card, called Orange Livre, for 500 XOF in Orange stores. You will get 500 XOF in credit as a bonus. You may have to call 500 to activate your SIM card.

Topping Up Your Orange Guinea-Bissau SIM Card

Recharge cards are sold in denominations of 500 XOF, 1000 XOF, 5000 XOF, 10 000 XOF, and 25 000 XOF. For recharges of more than 5000 XOF, you get 1000 XOF, 2000 XOF, and 5000 XOF bonus credit. To top-up your Orange SIM card, you have to dial *123*VoucherCode#. For example, if your voucher code is 123456, you would dial *123*123456#.

Orange Guinea-Bissau Internet Packages, Plans, Bundles & Offers

The Orange Internet Móvel Passes are data-only passes. They are grouped into two categories: Gama Classica & Gama Intensa. The Classica passes, meaning classic passes, are data passes that are valid from 24 hours to 30 days, while the Intensa passes, meaning intense passes, are valid for 30 days (and have a larger data allowance).

Both the Classica and Intensa passes can be activated by dialing *1234* or by heading to pass.orange-bissau.com (works only on a device with an Orange Bissau SIM card), so they will be listed in one table. Below are all your options:

Price	Data	Validity
200 XOF	40 MB	24 hours
350 XOF	80 MB	24 hours
650 XOF	250 MB	3 days
2000 XOF	750 MB	7 days
4000 XOF	1.5 GB	30 days
7500 XOF	3 GB	30 days
10 000 XOF	5 GB	30 days
15 000 XOF	10 GB	30 days
22 000 XOF	20 GB	30 days
35 000 XOF	40 GB	30 days
50 000 XOF	75 GB	30 days

Orange Guinea-Bissau 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):

• APN: internetogb OR 4Gogb

MTN Guinea-Bissau

MTN Guinea-Bissau, officially known as MTN Guiné Bissau but will be referred to as just “MTN,” is the other operator in Guinea-Bissau. Their coverage is slightly worse than the one of Orange, and they are more expensive than Orange.

SIM Card Price – MTN

You can buy an MTN SIM card for 500 XOF in MTN stores. Recharge vouchers are widely available throughout the country, even on the streets.

MTN Guinea-Bissau Internet Packages, Plans, Bundles & Offers

MTN has several combo plans and data-only plans, which are:

• MTN Bombástico (combo)
• MTN Livre (combo)
• MTN Nonstop (unlimited)
• MTN Pacotes Internet Móvel (data-only)

Let’s go through each of them

MTN Bombástico 

The Bombástico bundles are short-term combo bundles that come with data, on-net minutes, and on-net SMS. They can be activated by dialing *777#. There are 4 Bombástico bundles, but only 3 of them come with data:

Price	Data	On-Net Minutes	On-Net SMS	Validity
200 XOF	50 MB	20 minutes	20 SMS	24 hours
300 XOF	80 MB	20 minutes	20 SMS	3 days
500 XOF	250 MB	60 minutes	60 SMS	7 days

MTN Livre

The Livre bundles are semi-long-term combo bundles that come with data, on-net minutes, off-net minutes, and on-net SMS. They can be activated by dialing *313#. You have the following 5 options:

Price	Data	On-Net Minutes	Off-Net Minutes	On-Net SMS	Validity
800 XOF	500 MB	60 minutes	None	60 SMS	14 days
1000 XOF	500 MB	90 minutes	5 minutes	100 SMS	14 days
1500 XOF	1000 MB	150 minutes	5 minutes	100 SMS	14 days
3000 XOF	500 MB	200 minutes	5 minutes	200 SMS	30 days
5000 XOF	2000 MB	200 minutes	20 minutes	200 SMS	30 days

MTN Nonstop

The Nonstop bundles are bundles that come with unlimited data, on-net minutes, or a combination of data and on-net minutes for 1 hour. They can be activated by dialing *316#. There are 3 options:

• 200 XOF: Unlimited on-net minutes
• 500 XOF: Unlimited data
• 800 XOF: Unlimited data and on-net minutes

MTN Pacotes Internet Móvel

The Pacotes Internet Móvel are data-only packages. They come in various variants:

• Pacotes Internet Móvel (regular)
• Y’ello Night (night bundles)
• Flash (hourly)
• Pacotes Redes Sociais (Facebook & WhatsApp)

The activation procedure of all these packages is the same. They can be activated by dialing *138#. The Y’ellow Night bundles can be used between 11 PM and 6 AM only. The Pacotes Redes Sociais packages which are for WhatsApp and Facebook only.

The Pacotes Redes Sociais cannot be recommended because they come with a minuscule data allowance (4 MB for 50 XOF and 10 MB for 100 XOF for 24 hours and 7 days, respectively).

Below are all the 14 Pacotes Internet Móvel packages:

Price	Data	Validity
100 XOF	50 MB	1 hour
100 XOF	5 MB	Until midnight
200 XOF	200 MB	1 hour
200 XOF	200 MB	1 night between 11 PM and 6 AM
300 XOF	50 MB	24 hours
500 XOF	Unlimited	1 hour
500 XOF	2 GB	1 night between 11 PM and 6 AM
500 XOF	100 MB	24 hours
700 XOF	500 MB	24 hours
1000 XOF	150 MB	7 days
2500 XOF	1 GB	7 days
10 000 XOF	5 GB	30 days
15 000 XOF	10 GB	30 days
25 000 XOF	20 GB	30 days

MTN Guinea-Bissau 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):

• APN: internet

The Preferred Way to Stay Connected When Traveling in Guinea-Bissau

Getting a SIM card from Orange (best coverage and fastest speeds) would do you well when considering a Bissau-Guinean SIM card.