Luanda, July 29, 2026 (Lusa) — Unitel's services are due to start operating partially later on Wednesday, said the chair of the Angolan telecoms operator, declining to give further details about the cyberattack on the company so as «not to disrupt the course of investigations».
Aguinaldo Jaime, chair of Unitel, was speaking to the Lusa news agency on the sidelines of the company's listing ceremony at the Angolan Debt and Securities Stock Market (BODIVA), which took place this morning in Luanda.
He emphasised that cybercrime is present across all regions and economic sectors, acknowledging that this was the most serious incident the operator has ever faced. «Obviously, this is not the first instance of cybercrime that Unitel has fallen victim to, but this is the most serious, the most sophisticated and the one that has had the greatest impact,» he said.
Nevertheless, he pointed out that the company had already faced dozens of previous attacks without any major consequences. «Unitel has already suffered dozens of attacks, but we have always been able to monitor their impact and effects, and that is what we are doing,» he added.
When asked whether the company had considered postponing its stock market listing, he replied that the possibility had been considered but ruled out in view of the progress of the recovery. «All things considered, and especially after seeing how the work to restore our infrastructure is progressing, we felt it would be best to go ahead with the ‘ring the bell' ceremony today,» he said.
He assured that no sensitive customer data had been compromised and expressed confidence in the recovery. «The impact has been contained; we are working to restore our capacity and I believe that some services will start operating again even today,» he stated.
Lusa reported that some customers are already able to make calls and use mobile data.
Aguinaldo Jaime added that the investigation is ongoing and that international experts have already arrived in Angola to collaborate with Unitel.
Regarding the financial impact of the attack on the company and its customers, he declined to quantify it, saying that it is still being assessed.
The attack, which took place at around 2:00 am on Tuesday (the same time in Lisbon), is leaving the 20.8 million customers of the operator – the Angolan market leader – without mobile network or internet access.
As well as making it impossible to make calls or access the internet, the outage is affecting numerous businesses and disrupting various everyday activities in a country where, in line with the global trend, Angolans are using less and less cash.
Difficulties have been reported when paying for taxis via apps, as well as in restaurants and other shops, as many point-of-sale terminals (POS) have become inoperable due to network connection failures, which are also affecting some cash machines, preventing cash withdrawals.
Meanwhile, the Civil Protection and Fire Services, as well as various companies, have made alternative emergency contact numbers available via Unitel's main competitor, the operator Africell, which has seen huge crowds gathering outside its shops, as reported by Lusa.
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Lusa
