How to send data to another number in Ghana

Half the data bought in Ghana is bought for somebody else: a parent in another town, a child at school, a customer who sent you MoMo. The good news is that you do not need their phone, their PIN or their SIM. You need their number, a way to pay, and thirty seconds. Here are the three ways that work, and what to check before you tap pay.

1. From the network's own menu or app

Each network's short code menu and app let you buy certain bundles for another number on the same network: dial the data code, pick the bundle, and when it asks who the bundle is for, enter the other number. You pay from your airtime or from Mobile Money, at the standard menu price. The limits: it only works for a number on your own network (an MTN line cannot gift a Telecel line), not every bundle can be bought for someone else, and the menus change, so what was in a sub-menu last month may have moved.

The codes themselves are in our guides: MTN, Telecel and AirtelTigo.

2. Send them Mobile Money and let them buy

The simplest in theory: send GH₵10 by MoMo and let the person buy their own bundle. In practice it is the way most money quietly leaks: the transfer fee, the chance it gets spent on something else, and the fact that the person still has to know which code to dial. It works for people who buy data every week anyway. It does not work for a child, an elderly parent or a customer who paid you for a bundle, not for cash.

3. From an online data shop that delivers to any number

This is what DataYego is for. You pick the network and the bundle, type the number that should receive it, and pay with Mobile Money or card. The bundle goes to that number, whichever network it is on and whichever network you are on. You do not need an account; the order gets a YG- reference you can follow on the Track Order page, and the price on the site is the price you pay.

1. Open the shop and choose the network of the number receiving the data (not your own).
2. Pick the bundle. Every bundle shows its validity next to the price.
3. Enter the receiving number and check it twice.
4. Pay with Mobile Money or card. Keep the YG- reference.

The one mistake nobody can undo

A bundle sent to the wrong number is gone. Networks do not reverse it, and neither can a shop, because the data has already landed on a line that belongs to someone else. So before any purchase, on any channel: read the number back digit by digit, and if it is a customer, ask them to send it as a text rather than reading it out. Ten seconds against a wasted GH₵40.

Which way is cheapest?

Compare the shop price against what the network menu quotes for the same bundle, by price per gigabyte. The prices page lists every bundle we sell with today's price; our comparison guide shows how to do the sum. For bundles on another network than your own, the shop is usually the only way that works at all.