Planning a trip to Uganda, flying to Entebbe International Airport and wondering what is the best way to stay connected? This is your complete guide for buying a sim card at Entebbe Airport on arrival in Uganda. Don’t get stuck with high roaming costs, get connected with a Uganda prepaid sim card. Find out below where to buy a sim card at Entebbe airport, up to date prices as per August 2023, my recommendation, a vlog about my experiences and info about international and e-sim cards for Uganda.
When visiting a country abroad and there is no free roaming with your sim card then get yourself a local sim card. It is the first thing I do whenever I arrive in a new country. On my big Africa overland trip I already wrote sim card guides for Tanzania, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nairobi, South Africa, Zambia, Cameroon, Rwanda, Burundi and many more.
My recommendation
I advice tourists to buy an Airtel Uganda sim card. Based on my own experiences, especially in the South of Uganda (Bwindi and Mburo National Park) Airtel has much better coverage than MTN. Africell is the weakest network in Uganda.
Another alternative for a local prepaid sim card is an international sim card. More expensive but it comes with a lot of other benefits, especially if you travel to more than 1 country. Check out my comparison of the best international sim card for travelers in 2023 and find the one that suits your trip the best.
However, the easiest way to stay connected when traveling abroad in 2023 is an e-sim card.
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E-sim cards for Uganda
You can now also order an e-sim card for Uganda on the internet. It works very simple, you will receive a code, which you enter in your mobile and you won’t have to swap a physical sim card any more. Here are the e-sim card deals for Uganda:
- 1 GB data for 7 days = $9 USD
- 3 GB data for 30 days = $24 USD
- 5 GB dat for 30 days = $35 USD
Click here to order the above Uganda e-sim card deals directly online or click on the link to get more information.
The above e-sim cards for Uganda are only valid in Uganda. I also found international e-sim cards that are valid in more than 70 countries around the world including Uganda:
- 3 GB data for 30 days = $24.90 USD
- 5 GB data for 30 days = $34.90 USD
- 6 GB data for 15 days = $39.90 USD
Click here to order one of these international e-sim cards for Uganda.
You can also still order a physical sim card for Uganda that will be shipped to your home address before your trip. For example 10 GB data for 14 days = $49.9 USD. Click on the link to order this Uganda sim card deal or find more info and offers.
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Entebbe Airport
Entebbe Airport is the main international hub for traveling to Uganda. Entebbe is a laid-back town 45 kilometer south of Kampala, the capital Uganda. It is a fairly small airport and very easy to navigate. There is only one arrival hall. After you pick up your luggage and go through customs you will walk into a small hall.
Where to buy a sim card at Entebbe Airport
As soon as you walk into the arrival hall you will see a Tourist Information desk just right in front of you. On your right hand side you will see several ATMs and a yellow sign saying MTN shop. MTN is a Uganda sim card provider, however at this particular kiosk they don’t sell Uganda sim cards. Welcome to Africa! 🙂
Just behind the information desk in the direction of the restaurant there is an Airtel shop on your left hand side and here is where you can buy a sim card for Uganda at Entebbe Airport.
The Airtel shop supposed to be open 24 hours, if for some reason no one is there you can try to call the owner Hosea: +256 755 628 905.
But don’t worry there is another place to buy a sim card at Entebbe Airport. Just 50 meters on your left hand side when you leave the airport building (still within the gates) there are 3 kiosks that sell prepaid sim cards for Uganda: MTN, Airtel and Africell.
The kiosks are very colorful and you can’t miss them. For the best directions watch the vlog about buying a sim card at Entebbe Airport.
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Prices Uganda sim cards Entebbe Airport
Inside at the Airtel shop they sell also MTN sim cards and luckily the prices inside in the shop and outside at the kiosks are the exact same. That makes it much easier! 🙂
The below info and prices are updated in August 2023 and prices are in Ugandan Schilling: $1 USD = 3,583 UGX and 10,000 UGX = $2.79 USD.
Airtel Uganda
An Airtel sim card costs 5,000 UGX ($1.5) and you can top up with several packages: daily, weekly and monthly data bundles. Adding some calling minutes is separate.
Here are the best Airtel data bundles I would recommend:
- 15,000 UGX = 4 GB data for 1 week ($4)
- 20,000 UGX = 7 GB data for 1 week ($6)
- 30,000 UGX = 9 GB data for 1 month ($8)
- 50,000 UGX = 20 GB data for 1 month ($14)
Very competitive prices as you can see. Local sim cards for Uganda are cheap. Airtel calling credit costs about 5 cent for 1 minutes. So adding $1 calling credit will get you about 20 minutes local calling time.
MTN Uganda
An MTN sim card also costs 5,000 UGX ($1.5) and you can choose to add daily, weekly and monthly voice & data bundles separately.
These are the best value MTN data bundles:
- 20,000 UGX = 5 GB data for 1 week ($6)
- 50,000 UGX = 10 GB data for 1 month ($6)
As you can see MTN is more expensive than Airtel and/or less value for money. Also calling credit is more expensive, see below.
Africell Uganda
Africell has the smallest network in Uganda and is therefore a little cheaper. A sim card costs 2,000 UGX ($0.5)
Africell data bundles:
- 15,000 UGX = 4.5 GB data for 1 week ($4)
- 20,000 UGX = 8 GB data for 1 week ($6)
- 25,000 UGX = 8 GB data for 1 month ($7)
- 50,000 UGX = 20 GB data for 1 month ($14)
As you can see the Africell Uganda prepaid sim card data bundles are the cheapest and/or best value for money. However, their network coverage is the weakest.
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Best sim card Entebbe Airport in 2023
Based on the above info Traveltomtom votes Airtel as the best prepaid sim card for Uganda and you can easily buy one at Entebbe Airport. There is a store inside the arrival hall as well as one just outside. Airtel together with MTN have the best 4G network coverage in Uganda, just based on my own experiences I would suggest buying an Airtel sim card over an MTN sim card.
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See below my video about buying a sim card at Entebbe Airport with prices, directions, where to go and everything else you need to know.
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Buy a Uganda sim card online
If you don’t want the hassle of buying a Uganda sim card at Entebbe Airport on arrival you can order a sim card for Uganda online before your trip. Click here to order a sim card for Uganda for $49.9 USD with 10 GB data for 14 days.The sim card will be send to your home address and is automatically activated from its first use. Also a last reminder that you can easily arrange everything online by ordering an e-sim card for Uganda.
There are also global sim cards for travelers that work in Uganda, but they are very expensive. If you are curious have a look at them in the link.
Social media tax Uganda (OTT)
The OTT, the so called Social Media Tax is non-existing anymore!
I hope all the above tips for buying a sim card at Entebbe Airport for your Uganda trip were helpful. Let me know if you have any more questions, just leave me a comment below. Also about traveling to Uganda I am happy to help. Therefore I recommend you to check out all my Uganda travel blogs.
In search of some Uganda travel inspiration I can also recommend you to have a look at my Instagram profile @traveltomtom. Be aware that it could create some serious wanderlust as I am trying to visit every country in the world. As of August 2023 I have visited more than 155 countries around the world.
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Enjoy your trip to Uganda!
Some links in this article about buying a sim card at Entebbe Airport for traveling in Uganda are affiliate links. If you buy any of the products after using an affiliate link I will earn a small commission. This is at absolutely no extra cost to you!