In a statement, the company said it intends to invest "several hundred million dollars" in infrastructure and services during the first phase of the project, estimating that in the next five years 6500 jobs will be created.
It also promised to subcontract local companies for the works, hoping to "generate significant indirect jobs and boost Angola's knowledge base through the supply chain and support services needed to operate a sophisticated communications and technology business.
The formalization of the agreement with the Ministry of Telecommunications, the Ministry of Finance, and the telecommunications regulator INACOM comes about six months after Africell won the public tender for a fourth telecommunications license in Angola, for which it was the only candidate.
"Angola is one of the most attractive investment destinations in sub-Saharan Africa and an African leader, so we see this as the next logical step for Africell as we continue to expand our network and deepen our footprint across the continent," said founder and CEO of Africell Group, Ziad Dalloul, in a statement.
The US entrepreneur expressed his commitment to "work with the Angolan government to transform the Angolan telecommunications market through lower prices and accessibility.
Africell aims to offer affordable services to customers across the country, focusing on a high-speed, data-centric mobile network and sophisticated 'smartphone' cell phones, also at affordable prices.
Angola is the fifth market where the Africell Group will have operations, joining Uganda, Sierra Leone, Gambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo, where it already has a customer base of 12 million.
Pascoal Fernandes, Chairman of INACOM's Board of Directors, said he was pleased that Africell had chosen Angola to expand and hopes that it will contribute to "the development of the market, thus creating conditions for service users to enjoy better quality services".
With origins in Lebanon, the group has been registered in Jersey, Channel Island, since 2020 and has offices in London.
The capital is held by Ziad Dalloul and an unidentified French shareholder, and in recent years has raised $370 million from entities such as the US International Development Finance Corporation (USIDFC), formerly Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), Gemcorp and Helios Investment Partners funds and the International Financial Corporation, which is part of the World Bank.
