Buying a SIM Card in Mauritania: Registration, Prices and Where to Buy

Take your original passport to an official operator branch if you want a Mauritanian number. Staff must register the line in your name before you can use it. Ask for the full price of a working SIM with your chosen allowance, since the weekly package price alone tells you little about what you’ll pay at the counter.

What 100 MRU buys for a week in Mauritania

In the operators’ June 2025 tariffs, 100 Mauritanian ouguiyas (MRU) bought a seven-day package on each of the three networks. Mattel offered the most data at that price. Chinguitel included domestic minutes for calling drivers and guesthouses directly.

Tariffs filed with Mauritania’s telecom regulator, checked November 3, 2026. Prices can change. The table covers the bundle only.

Mattel makes sense if most of your calls are through apps. Its prepaid tariff guide gives *160# as the menu for general internet bundles. Open it on the registered line to see the choices before topping up. Mattel also sells night and social-media passes. Ask for internet prépayé if you want maps, email and other apps to work throughout the day.

Moov Mauritel is worth considering if your host or guide uses it on the route you’ll be taking. The half-gigabyte difference from Mattel matters less if you’re trying to arrange a pickup outside town. Ask which network your guide actually uses at the meeting point, and save the directions offline before setting out.

Chinguitel is the most useful of these three packages if you expect to make ordinary phone calls. Give your new number to a driver so they can call you back. The domestic minutes also let you call the driver’s regular number. Ask for Mauri Mix if you want the minutes and texts shown above.

Can a tourist register a SIM with a foreign passport?

Bring your passport in person. Mauritania’s SIM registration law requires operators to identify subscribers biometrically before a sale and restricts sales to designated points. Ask the branch whether it can register a short-stay visitor with your passport. The law sets the identity check, but individual branches may direct you elsewhere to complete it.

In November 2025, a visitor in Nouadhibou reported that a small Mattel shop sent them to the operator’s larger office in the city center. There, staff copied their foreign passport and registered the SIM. The visitor paid 50 MRU for the card, then 200 MRU for 6 GB in a separate transaction. Their first-day total at that branch came to 250 MRU.

Where to buy in Nouakchott and Nouadhibou

• Nouakchott–Oumtounsy International Airport. Arrival information for a February 2026 UN meeting identified both the airport and the city as places to buy a SIM. If you land late and need to reach a driver, agree on the meeting point before flying. You can visit a city branch the next day if the airport seller is closed or unable to register your passport.

• Nouakchott city. Ask for the operator’s agence commerciale, the branch that opens lines. If someone points you to a shop advertising recharge, explain that you still need a new number. A shop can sell credit for an existing line without being the place to register a new one.

• Nouadhibou. If you enter overland and want Mattel, the city-center office is a practical starting point based on the visitor’s experience above. Have staff complete the registration in your own name, even if someone nearby offers a SIM that already works.

What to ask before you pay

Start with « Combien coûte la carte SIM avec le forfait, tout compris ? » (“How much is the SIM with the package, all in?”). Ask staff to separate the card price, any activation fee and the first top-up. If a top-up is required, find out how much of it pays for the bundle and how much stays on your balance.

Before leaving, save your new number with Mauritania’s +222 country code, switch off Wi-Fi and open a page over mobile data. If you bought minutes for a pickup, call the driver while you’re still at the counter. It’s also worth asking staff to show you how to check your balance and expiry date. That saves a return trip when you need another week of service.

When a travel eSIM is easier

If your first task in Nouakchott is sending your driver a WhatsApp message, you can set up Roafly’s Mauritania eSIM on a compatible, unlocked phone before departure. The 1 GB, 7-day plan costs US$19.90 and lists Mauritel and Mattel. It provides mobile data for messages, maps and bookings. You can keep your existing WhatsApp number. A local prepaid line is the better fit when you need a Mauritanian number or included domestic calls.

For a longer trip, decide how much data you’ll need beyond arrival. If you prefer to arrange the full trip’s data before flying, our guide to the best eSIM for Mauritania compares allowances, validity and network access. If you’ll be calling hotels or guides by phone throughout the trip, spend the time at an operator branch and leave with a registered number and a tested voice bundle.

Roafly publishes this guide and offers the travel eSIM described above.