20 September 2022

Africell, the first fully foreign-owned telecom operator licensed to provide mobile services in Angola, has secured five million subscribers five months after launching commercial operations in the country.

At least half a million are active data subscribers, using the internet for social networking, e-commerce, transportation services, food delivery services, music and video streaming, among other things.

Africell officially started its commercial activities in the Angolan telecom market April 7, joining Angola Telecom, Unitel and Movicel. The commercial launch comes 14 months after the American group was awarded Angola's fourth unified telecommunications license. The licence was awarded as part of a national reform program initiated by the government to welcome more competition and innovation in key sectors of the economy, including telecommunications.

For now, Africell's services are only available in the capital Luanda, but the company plans to implement a large-scale geographic rollout with 2G, 3G and 4G. It also plans to deploy 5G, but it will be limited to high-end business and residential areas in and around the capital.

"The reality has exceeded our initial expectations and we now have a better understanding of the market dynamics and that it will take quite a bit of investment to realise its potential,"  Christopher Lundh, managing director of Africell Angola, told news website balancingact-africa.com.

The company also relies on infrastructure sharing with its competitors to provide its services, in accordance with Angolan law.

Africell's main objective is to bring more competition to the Angolan telecom market with the introduction of new products and services. The company also wants to stimulate economic growth and social development with the creation of more than a thousand jobs, mostly for Angolans.