Before you start

A passport, or your carte d'identité d'étranger once you hold it
A physical presence at an agency — identification is done in person
An unlocked handset; check eSIM support with *#06# before relying on it
The line in YOUR name if a mobile-money wallet will sit on it

Step-by-step

1
Buy at an operator agency
Orange, Yas and Expresso all run agencies in Thiès. A SIM that already works when you buy it has been registered to somebody else, which means their identity is attached to your mobile money.
In personWho: YouMinutesA few hundred XOF
2
Get identified in your own name
The agent records your passport or residence card against the line. The ARTP restricted unidentified numbers from 18 March 2025 and suspended them outright on 31 March 2025, after earlier campaigns that deactivated millions of lines. The regulator also caps how many SIMs one subscriber may hold — three is the widely reported figure.
In personWho: YouMinutesFree
3
Choose for corridor coverage
City coverage is fine on all three networks. What differs is the road east to Diourbel and Touba, north to Tivaouane and Kayar, and the Niayes tracks. If your work moves you around the region, ask locally which network holds up rather than comparing urban bundles.
In personWho: YouSame dayNothing to compare
4
Load a data pass rather than a contract
Prepaid passes are the norm and are bought in-app or by USSD. Check the tariff in the operator's own app rather than from an article: Senegalese data pricing has moved fast under competition and published comparisons age badly. Unused data does not roll over.
Mobile appWho: YouInstantBudget XOF 5,000–10,000 a month for a working volume
5
Check fibre at the address before you sign
Thiès has genuine fibre coverage in parts of the city — an advantage over most of provincial Senegal and a real factor if you work remotely. But an address being 'eligible' and being connected are different states. Ask the building, not the salesperson, and keep a 4G router as a fallback.
OnlineWho: YouDays to weeks for an installQuoted per package; confirm the install lead time in writing

Documents you’ll need

Passport, or the carte d'identité d'étranger
An unlocked handset
Nothing else

Things most newcomers don’t know

Senegal actually enforced its SIM identification; Côte d'Ivoire did not.

The ARTP suspended unidentified lines on 31 March 2025 after restricting them from 18 March, following earlier campaigns that cut millions of numbers. Anyone applying an Abidjan heuristic will underrate the risk of an informally acquired SIM here.

Source: ARTP; Senegalese press, March 2025

Free Sénégal is now Yas, and both names remain in circulation.

The rebrand landed in 2025 and shop signage, contracts and half the internet still say Free. Same operator. There is no fourth network.

Source: ARTP market reporting

Fibre in Thiès is the reason a remote-work case exists here at all.

Most Senegalese cities outside Dakar are a 4G-router proposition. Thiès's size and proximity to the capital put real fixed broadband into parts of the city, which — combined with rents at a fifth of Almadies and an international airport half an hour away — is the strongest remote-work argument outside the peninsula.

Source: Local practice; Sonatel coverage

The line and the wallet are the same asset.

Mobile money is bound to the SIM, so a line registered to a friend or a landlord means your salary and savings sit inside someone else's identity. It is the most expensive shortcut available on day one.

Source: Operator KYC rules under ARTP identification requirements

Common mistakes to avoid

Buying a pre-activated SIM and inheriting someone else's registration
Putting a mobile-money wallet on a line registered to somebody else
Assuming the March 2025 identification deadline was a bluff — lines were cut
Signing a lease on the promise of fibre without confirming it reaches the building
Choosing an operator on a Dakar tariff comparison rather than on regional corridor coverage
Reading a 2024 data-price comparison as current

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.