Luanda, June 24, 2025 (Lusa) - The Angolan government said today that “the time has come” for Angola and Africa to have telecommunications industries, given the development of technologies in the country and the region, considering that the business and regulatory environment “are attractive” to investment.
According to Angola’s minister of telecommunications, information and media technologies, Mário de Oliveira, Angola and the African continent need a telecommunications industry to retain skilled professionals, especially young people, who seek opportunities on other continents.
Speaking today during a panel on the “National Space Programme” at the 17th US-Africa Business Summit in the Angolan capital, he said that “the time has come” for Africa to have its own industries because the continent “needs to retain much of its manpower”.
“We have been doing a lot of international advocacy on this issue because we understand that the development that the country and the region are experiencing, the development that Africa is experiencing in these areas, means that it is time for us to have a telecommunications industry here in Angola,” said the Angolan minister.
According to Mário de Oliveira, Angola especially needed to enhance its electricity supply. Still, he noted that “today Angola has considerable energy production, which means that telecommunications industries can set up here”.
“We have many young people graduating in this field and we believe that the time has come for major manufacturers to come to Angola and manufacture their products here, to develop here, because we believe that this is also a way of retaining talent in the country and Africa, which will benefit the continent as a whole,” he said.
Mário de Oliveira also said that Angola currently has a regulatory and business environment that is attractive to investment, highlighting that the government is revising some legislation in the sector to allow new operators to enter the market.
He considered that the profound technological changes and transformations taking place in the sector he heads require the country to adapt to the global technological reality, particularly in terms of cybersecurity and artificial intelligence.
‘These are all new technologies that are present and we need to regulate and adapt so that operators in this field can feel comfortable in Angola and make investments here,’ he told Lusa.
He also said that the business environment in the sector he oversees is attractive, highlighting that Angola is currently the leader of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) satellite technical group, a regional project led by Angola.
“This is a huge gain for us and shows the confidence that countries in the region have in our National Space Programme,” concluded the Angolan minister.
Business leaders in the telecommunications sector in Angola highlighted the challenges facing the sector. They called for all players in this segment to join forces so that investments in the sector are reflected in the development of the Angolan economy.
“The challenge relates to the investment capacity of some companies here [in Angola], and it also offers a good opportunity to discuss with partners several forms of financing and investment,” Francisco Pinto Leite, general director of Internet Technologies Angola, told Lusa.
Ângelo Gama, chairman of the executive board of Angola Cables, emphasised the need for Africa to attract more investment in the technology sector to drive economic development and enhance the skills of its workforce.
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