Expansao reports that Angola’s government is negotiating with an unnamed African investor on a proposed sale of a stake in struggling mobile operator Movicel. According to the report, the deal under consideration could include management control, with talks said to be at an ‘advanced’ stage.
TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database notes that state-owned Angola Telecom holds an 18% stake in Movicel, with the state additionally owning a 25% Movicel stake via Instituto Nacional da Seguranca Social (INSS, 25%) plus 2% held by National Post & Telegraph of Angola (ENCTA). The database shows that Movicel had a mere 4.7% mobile market share in terms of subscriptions at end-March 2023, behind newcomer Africell (27.0%) and sector leader Unitel (68.2%).
The report from Expansao says that Movicel is suffering from serious operational issues including network equipment in certain areas being turned off, with ‘huge’ debts to the state and suppliers, several of which have reportedly cut service provision to the company.
Source: Commsupdate
