Recently while preparing a pre-departure document for a group traveling with Green Bug Adventures to Ghana, Togo and Benin I was asked to put information in about GSM and mobile coverage in these countries.
As amazing as it would be to leave all the mobile devices at home and have a vacation free of these distractions on our relaxation it has become more and more important to be tied into communications, back home for work, or to make your travel arrangements as needed or for emergency situations.
To give you an idea about the coverage areas in these countries I have prepared the following information.
Most of Ghana, Togo and Benin have GSM mobile phone coverage. Just like anywhere there are gaps in the coverage and differences in coverage between operators, this happens primarily in rural areas. The primary bands used are 900, and 1800.
To avoid costly international mobile charges it is recommended that you pick up recharge cards locally from the different providers in each country. Since no network is all inclusive you should go for the major networks. To make sure the group has coverage as much as possible it is recommended that each person get one chip from a different carrier.
If you are traveling and covering a lot of ground each day you should have coverage at some place along the way. The rural areas may have spotty coverage this will include places between established communities in northern Ghana, Togo and Benin. You may also loose service even along the coast in some remote areas of the Western Region, like Cape Three Points.
AT&T offers some good information about GSM coverage in the three countries that you will be traveling to, here is a map of over all GSM coverage in the area.
Ghana:
The primary mobile operators in Ghana are;
• Vodaphone (also known as former Ghana Telecom) coverage map
• MTN
• TiGo no coverage map available
• Zain no coverage map available
Togo:
The primary mobile operators in Togo are;
• Togocel
• Moov- coverage map not available
Benin:
• MTN- you man need to zoom in to see.
• Moov- No coverage map available
• Glo- No coverage map available
• Bbcom- No coverage map available
