Angola: No Unitel privatisation before end-2023, says IGAPE head
November 30th 2022
Angolan government proposals to privatise mobile market leader Unitel will not take shape until at least end-2023, reports newspaper Valor Economico quoting Patricio Bicudo Vilar, the chairman of the board of directors of Angola’s State Assets & Participations Management Institute (Instituto de Gestao de Activos e Participacoes do Estado, IGAPE). The executive added that it has yet to be decided if the planned international share sale will take the form of a stock exchange offering, public tender or other method.
As reported by TeleGeography’s CommsUpdate, last month Angola finalised the nationalisation of two 25% stakes in Unitel previously held by private companies Vidatel – owned by Angolan billionaire Isabel dos Santos, daughter of former president Jose Eduardo dos Santos – and Geni, an investment vehicle of Leopoldino do Nascimento (‘General Dino’, a close associate of former president dos Santos). State oil company Sonangol owns the other 50% of Unitel, partly via its subsidiary Mercury Telecom (MSTelcom). TeleGeography notes that the government is also pursuing a process to sell a minority stake in Sonangol as part of the country’s 2019-2022 privatisation programme.
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