Angolan telecommunications giant Unitel is making IPO preparations in 2024, per a Bloomberg report on Thursday. This strategic move by the Central African country is to drive economic growth and attract foreign investment into the country.
An IPO is an initial public offering in which shares of a private company are made available to the public for the first time. An IPO allows a company to raise equity capital from public investors. In other words, an IPO refers to the process of offering shares of a private corporation to the public in a new stock issuance. The process basically provides companies with an opportunity to obtain capital by offering shares through the primary market.
Unitel on the other hand, is an Angolan mobile phone company that was established in 2001 as a joint-stock company. The company was previously owned by Oi and Helios (through Africatel), Angolan state-owned oil company Sonangol and local firms like Geni Holding (through Mercury) and Vidatel.
However, in October 2022, Angolan President João Lourenco issued a decision finalising the nationalisation of Unitel. Unitel operates a network based on GSM and UMTS standards and provides voice communications, text (SMS) and multimedia (MMS) messages, and mobile internet access.
As the largest telecommunications company in Angola, Unitel is a cornerstone of the country’s communication infrastructure and the upcoming IPO is expected to have far-reaching implications for the nation’s economy and for investors eyeing the burgeoning Angolan market.
What is next on the Unitel IPO?
Explicit details surrounding the development are not available yet, as information regarding the size of the offering, the valuation of the company, and the exact timing within 2024 has not been disclosed.
However, as the move is intended towards diversification and sustainability, it could be said that Angola is preparing to become an attractive destination for foreign investment.
For potential investors, the Unitel IPO presents an opportunity to participate in the growth of Angola’s telecommunications industry while supporting the country’s efforts to enhance its business environment.