A Bloomberg report on Thursday stated that Unitel, the massive telecom company in Angola, is preparing for an IPO in 2024. The nation of Central Africa is making this calculated step to boost economic growth and draw in foreign investment.
The procedure through which shares of a private firm are initially made accessible to the public is known as an initial public offering or IPO. It enables businesses to obtain funding for various uses by allowing them to acquire equity capital from public investors.
Founded as a joint-stock corporation in 2001, Unitel has participated significantly in the Angolan mobile phone industry. Prior owners of the company included state-owned Angolan oil major Sonangol, local companies such as Vidatel and Geni Holding (via Mercury), and Oi and Helios through Africatel.
Nonetheless, Unitel’s place as a vital component of the nation’s communication infrastructure was cemented in October 2022 when Angolan President João Lourenco completed the company’s nationalization. Unitel’s GSM and UMTS-based network provide voice calls, text (SMS) multimedia (MMS) messaging, and mobile internet access.
The impending initial public offering (IPO) of Unitel, the biggest telecom operator in Angola, is expected to impact the country’s economy significantly, and investors hope to enter the country’s expanding market.
The size of the offering, the company’s valuation, and the precise IPO date within 2024 are among the details that still need to be made public. However, the shift towards sustainability and diversification points to Angola’s goal of luring in outside capital and improving its economic climate.
