It’s official. African mobile technology company Africell has confirmed that it has finalised a deal that will give it a mobile telecommunications operator’s licence in Angola.
Africell will join three other operators: Movicel, Unitel and state-owned Angola Telecom. According to Reuters, Africell has said that it plans to invest several hundred million dollars in infrastructure and services during the first phase of its rollout in Angola, with operations expected to create around 6,500 jobs over the next five years.
This is the fifth territory in which Africell has offered services. It says it already provides fast, low-cost and reliable mobile network coverage and related technology services to millions of individuals, communities and businesses in four African countries: Uganda, Sierra Leone, The Gambia, and DR Congo.
It’s been a busy few days in the Angolan telecoms market. According to news agency ANGOP, privatisation efforts are under way on the form of the sale of state-held shares in TV Cabo, a cable TV provider, Multitel, a corporate-focused ISP and subsidiary of Angola Telecom, and Net One, which provides residential WiMAX, LTE and VSAT-based services for the B2B and B2C segment.
This is scheduled for some time between May and June this year. All these companies have apparently enjoyed reasonable growth despite the economic crisis aggravated by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The State Assets and Participations Management Institute (IGAPE), which is overseeing the privatisation process, is also said to be working on privatisations or part-privatisations for Unitel, MS Telecom, ACS, Angola Telecom, Angola Cables, the Angolan National Post and Telegraph Company (ENCTA) and the Angolan Telephone Directory Company (ELTA).