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Manage your plans, your data and your eSIM from your phone, wherever you land.
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No. Burkina Faso is sold as its own plan and isn't on the Africa plan or the Global plan. Ghana, Ivory Coast, Benin, and Niger next door are on the Africa plan; Mali and Togo are separate plans. Details in does a region plan cover every country in it?
In Burkina Faso your plan connects to Orange on 4G LTE, which handles maps, messaging, and calls over apps; 5G is not part of this plan. Your phone joins the network automatically once the plan is switched on. If it hasn't connected a minute after landing, work through the no-signal checklist.
No plan works during a suspension, whether it is an eSIM, a local SIM, or roaming. If your plan hasn't been switched on, nothing starts until you connect; if it is already running, its days keep counting. Keep offline copies of what matters and an alternative messaging app installed.
Yes, over the plan's data, though services can be slowed at short notice. A Burkina Faso plan is data only; calls home go over an app, and your home number keeps working on your home SIM.
It depends on how much data you want and how many days you're staying. A fixed plan costs less overall; an unlimited plan (5 GB a day at full speed, then slower) works out to a lower daily rate the longer you stay. Every current option and price is in the plan selector at the top of this page.
In the app: open My plans, choose your Burkina Faso plan, and tap Top up. The extra data lands on the same eSIM within a few seconds, with nothing new to add or scan. Full steps are in topping up data without reinstalling the eSIM.
Weeks ahead. The plan's days don't start until you turn it on and connect, so a plan bought a month before departure is still complete when you land. Plans need to be activated within 90 days of purchase. See what plan validity means and when it starts.
If it's eSIM-compatible and carrier-unlocked, yes, which covers most phones sold since 2019. The one-minute check for iPhone, Android, and Samsung is in is my phone eSIM compatible?
Burkina Faso eSIM for Ouagadougou, work assignments, and Bobo-Dioulasso
Set it up before you fly. It's live the moment you land, nothing to check, nothing to remember.
Already with us? Get the app on the App Store or Google Play.
Trips to Burkina Faso are work: aid, diplomacy, mining, and the occasional return for FESPACO, and what they share is a need for a phone that works from the moment the plane stops at Ouagadougou, because the driver, the office, and the visa paperwork all depend on it. The best eSIM for Burkina Faso is a Burkina Faso plan, added at home, on Wi-Fi, so the phone connects to Orange's 4G before you reach the terminal.
Below: how a Burkina Faso plan works, how to set it up before you fly, what to expect in Ouagadougou and Bobo-Dioulasso, and which plan fits for the rest of the route.
African itineraries change, and most travel eSIMs make you start over every time they do. KnowRoaming doesn't. You add the KnowRoaming eSIM, called KR.One, to your phone once, then add a plan per trip: Burkina Faso now, a regional plan for a later route through the countries it covers, and whatever comes next after that. Nothing to scan again, nothing to delete when you get home.
The plan's days start when you turn it on and connect in Burkina Faso, not at checkout. Buy it weeks ahead, add it at home, and a delayed flight costs you nothing. The full rule is in what plan validity means and when it starts.
Choose a fixed plan for a set amount of data at the lowest overall price, or an unlimited plan when you'd rather not count. Unlimited plans give you 5 GB a day at full speed, then a slower speed until the allowance resets the next day. If a fixed plan runs low, top up in the app and the extra data lands on the same eSIM.
See it in two minutes: Meet KR.One, iPhone setup with KR.One, or Samsung setup with KR.One.
Do this at home on Wi-Fi. It takes about a minute.
Before you leave
- Get the KnowRoaming app (available on iOS and Android) and choose your Burkina Faso plan.
- Tap Add. First time on this phone? The app adds KR.One and your Burkina Faso plan together. Already have KR.One? Only the plan is added, with nothing to scan.
- Leave data roaming off on the KnowRoaming line until you land, and turn it off on your home line too so it doesn't run up charges in the background. Steps are in turning off roaming on your home line.
When you land
- Turn the plan on in the app, then turn data roaming on for the KnowRoaming line. That setting lives in your phone, so the app can't flip it for you.
- Give the phone a minute to find the network. If nothing happens, turn airplane mode on for 30 seconds and off again.
Prefer a QR code? The checkout page and your confirmation email both carry one; scan it from your phone's settings. Every tap, by device, is in adding your eSIM on iPhone, adding your eSIM on Android, and adding your eSIM on Samsung, or watch the iPhone QR walkthrough or the Samsung QR walkthrough. Still no signal after landing? Work through the no-signal checklist.
Ouagadougou's airport is inside the city, minutes from the hotels, and most visitors are met by an organization's driver; the visa is obtained in advance and the confirmation should be saved offline. The CFA franc is the currency, cash is the rule outside the international hotels, and ATMs are few, so change money on arrival. The Grand Marché, the artisans' village, and the mausoleum are the capital's landmarks; organizations posting staff to Burkina Faso issue their own security guidance, which should be followed over anything on this page.
Bobo-Dioulasso, the second city with its mud mosque and its music, is five hours south-west by road or a short flight, and the Banfora cascades and the Sindou peaks are the trips beyond it; the road north and east is largely off-limits and offline. Orange's 4G covers the two cities and the main road between them.
Burkina Faso is sold as its own plan and is not on the Africa plan, which covers Ghana, Ivory Coast, Benin, and Niger around it, or on the Global plan. For a route that continues to Accra or Abidjan, add the Africa plan to the same eSIM; Mali and Togo, the other neighbors, are sold as their own plans too. Read crossing into a border country your plan doesn't include before a route that leaves the plan's coverage.
Electricity is intermittent and generator-backed at the better hotels; a power bank and a car charger keep the phone useful. The heat from March to May is severe. Mobile service can be slowed or suspended at short notice, and some apps are periodically restricted; keep offline copies of what matters and an alternative messaging app installed.
For a posting measured in weeks or months, an unlimited plan, with 5 GB a day at full speed, covers daily video calls home and the hotspot for a laptop when the office or the guesthouse connection fails; a fixed plan suits a short mission. Top up or add a plan from the app while you have data or Wi-Fi, so before a trip out of town rather than during one.
Your plan connects to Orange on 4G LTE. There is no 5G on this plan. Coverage is concentrated in Ouagadougou, Bobo-Dioulasso, Koudougou, and Banfora and along the main road between the two cities. Your phone picks the network automatically once the plan is on; there is nothing to choose by hand.
Beyond the towns, expect gaps or no signal on any network for long stretches. Plan those legs as offline.
Most phones sold since 2019 support eSIM, including iPhone XS and later and most Android flagships from the same window. Check yours before you add a plan; it takes a few seconds. On iPhone, go to Settings, General, About and look for an EID or Available SIM. On Android, go to Settings, Network & Internet, SIMs and look for an option to add an eSIM. On Samsung, dial *#06# and look for an EID.
Your phone also needs to be carrier-unlocked. If you're not sure, carrier-locked vs unlocked: how to tell shows you where to look.
Adding a Burkina Faso plan doesn't touch your regular SIM. Calls and texts on your usual number keep working exactly as before. The new plan handles data while you're there, and most phones run both at once without you doing anything else. Bank codes and two-factor texts still arrive on your home number, as long as that line stays switched on.
For Africa the alternatives are a home-carrier roaming rate that is often not offered at all, a local SIM in each country with registration paperwork at each border, or lodge Wi-Fi that works in the bar and nowhere else. A Burkina Faso plan added at home beats all three: one price agreed before you fly, live the second you land, and the same eSIM, with a plan for wherever the next trip goes.
Real travelers rate KnowRoaming 4.5 out of 5 on Reviews.io. More than a decade in travel connectivity, more than 200 destinations, and support that doesn't clock off: WhatsApp and live chat, any time, any day.
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Very easy to set up.
Iviwe
Cape Town, ZA
i had no issues. however i am moving to a provider that provides 365 packages at reasonable rates. u dont do that currently. also because im buyinhg on mtn which is using u u are getting my support bec its easier. u have to offer better packages. also i was charged 20% more than the advertized rate, i am currently in dispute with mtn.
Siki
Great service
Edmond N