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Sure you can my dear ... in Nairobi you can do it especially in town

Shouldn't be a problem.  I use a UK phone, unlocked, in Kenya.  Lots of Samsung phones on sale in Kenya too, including the S9, if you'd rather go down that route.

Consider signing up with Safaricom, then registering with M-Pesa, which is a cashless mobile based finance and banking service.  You can use it to pay for almost anything and can easily top it up from your home bank account via a money transfer service, such as Work Remit, Western Union etc.

Tefa Mah wrote:

i think so

Thank you! Do you know if I'd be able to transfer money directly from my account, or do I need to find one of those services you mentioned...

To the best of my knowledge, you have to use a money transfer service for M-Pesa, but the transfer costs are competitive, as are the exchange rates.  Been doing the transfers this way for years.  You can hold a max balance of Ksh 100,000.

M-Pesa also offers savings options through M-Shwari paperless banking - interest rates up to approx 6.6%.  Check the Safaricom website.

Hi Skyler

As I have  done this myself here is what I recommend:

- Go to your local service provider in the USA and get your phone unlocked,

- Once in Kenya, it will work with any local telco provider.

In Kenya:

- Sign up with Safaricom as they have a network which covers most areas,

- Also, the advantage of Safaricom is you get to enable a mobile money transfer account known as M-Pesa.  This is great as you have a mobile bank account on your phone and do not need a bank.

- To send money between the USA and yourself in Kenya, sign up with World Remit.

You can send money directly from the USA to your mobile phone account in Kenya in less than 15 minutes online.

Here is the link for world remit:     

I travel a lot between Kenya and Canada and I follow the above steps which work very well for me. 

Good luck

Ali