The Telecoms Sector in Angola - The Road Ahead

The Road Ahead

Growing with the country
Over the past years Angola has been growing at an impressive pace and the Telecommunications sector has been one of the rising stars in the country. The most visible face of this success is the mobile segment with more than 12 million customers in 2012 against just 140,000 ten years before, a CAGR 2002-2012 of 56.7%. And, according to our estimates, the mobile phone market should continue to grow fast in the coming years and could reach 17.9 million subscribers by 2017. The success of the mobile network is mostly explained by the poor fixed network infrastructure, due to decades of war. To develop an adequate infrastructure will take time and money, creating growth opportunities to mobile operators and Internet Service Providers.

Commitment with the sector
Despite the fast dynamic of the Angolan market there is still a lot to do. In our opinion, regulation should be the starting point. The visibility and predictability needed to attract and stimulate investment can only be provided by a strong regulatory authority. It is also necessary to make the services more affordable and, to achieve this, a higher degree of market liberalization and competition may be necessary. Authorities recognize these challenges, among others, in the "Telecommunications Whitepaper" and define the strategy and guidelines for the sector. Moreover, authorities recognize the role of the sector for Angola's socioeconomic development and their goal is made clear: Angola should become a leader and an ICT reference in Africa.