Detailed information about the ICT industry of Angola and how will grow the following years.

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The Angolan ICT industry
With sub-Saharan region being the fastest growing ICT market in the world, Angola
representsthe biggest one in the area. Besides its natural resourceslike oil and diamonds,
the country is making huge leaps in ICT infrastructure and development in order to use
technology to boost trade.
Although Angolahas a populationof over 20 million, the internet users are estimated
about 3 million while the mobile users are more than 13 million with 70% youngstersand
3,5 million of them have an internet connectionon their mobile.
To better understand the huge growth in mobile use, just a decade ago there were about
140,000 mobile users and with a compoundannual growth rate of 56% that number has
surpassed 13 million users.
African countries vs. the western financial instability
The Africancountriesand marketsrepresent a great potential in terms of people,
resourcesand growth. While most countriesin the west were hit with the recent
economic crisis, Africancountriesas a whole grew at a rate of 5.1% inthe last 10 years
based on macroeconomic studies. Especially southern Africancountries, including
Angola, grew an impressive 7.8% during 2014.
Thisnotable growth over the last decade for the Angolan economy ledto becoming the
third largest economy in the sub-Saharan region and the telecommunicationsector
contributeda significant amount to that extend. The key role of telecommunicationin the

2. country’sgrowthcan be underlined with the launch of Angosat, the first
telecommunicationsatellite that was announced by the President of the country.
Furthermore, the period of peace after the civilwar that ended about a decade ago has
sparked the outside interest and investment in key sectorssuch as banking, oil and
telecommunications, which had huge barriers for foreign private investors. Primarily,
telecommunicationsis a very attractive sector for foreigninvestorsand two agencies –
Angola Telecomandthe Angolan Communications Institute (INACOM)- are regulating
and observingthe industry.
The penetration in telecommunicationis significantly high for mobile 89%, comparedto
fixedlines 1.5% andinternet users 24%. The market is clearly in its early stages of
development and new players can take advantage of the rapid growth in infrastructure
and new users entering the market.
The potential of the Angolan ICT sector
Due to its geostrategic position, Angola can become a hub for the telecommunicationsin
Africaand currently is the lead in development in the sector. The SAT-3 andWACS, two
very important submarine cables run through Angolan territory and there is also planned
a connectionbetween Africa(Angola) and South America(Brazil). What is more
impressive, during the last 5 years, around 20,000 kmof long distance and metropolitan
opticalfibre were installed in the country with part of it connectingAngola with neighbor
countries.
The ICT sector as part of the economy
There is a lack of data, in terms of statisticsabout the workforce etc., but it is estimated
that the direct jobs in the ICT sector are between 10,000-15,000 andthe indirect jobs lie
somewhere between 40,000-60,000. It is a significant number, taking into account the
development of the entire nation, and that number is bound to increase giventhe
expectedgrowthof the market. ICT companies and productsare present in every aspect
of the human life in western countriesand in the near future so will be in Angolan
lifestyle too. Therefore, the public and private investmentsmade in this area will be
towards that directionwith focusin creating more efficient and competitive businesses
that will add value to the country’seconomic growth.
The successfuldevelopment of the ICT industry is based on some criticalfactorsthat will
guarantee the development process. Updatedlegislation to reflect the current ICT reality
is the most prominent. The localgovernment has included the expansion of mobile

3. networksof the rural regions at the top of the ICT agenda, which will benefit agriculture,
educationand healthcare to name some.
Esoko, a mobile toolfor farmers that helps them to easily accessmarket informationand
pricesas well as cropproductionlevels, is being used in 15 Africancountriesand already
has a successstory in Ghana, helping localfarmers to increase their revenuesby an
average of 10%. Also, Machine to Machine (M2M) servicesthat will help farmers to
increase their productivity by controllingmachinesremotely or automatically are
expectedto become more common, so there is great potential in that field for newcomers
and established businesses.
We already noted the size of mobile users in the country and the percentage that have
accessto the internet though their device, and this number is expectedto growfueled by
new subscribersfromthe rural areas. If youare offering a mobile service or app though
and lookingto expand there, youshould take under considerationthe price barrier the
might prevent new users from signing up to your service.
As stated above, due to its geographic locationand demographic characteristicsAngolais
one of the most alluring and promising ICT marketsin Africa. Takinginto account the
growth of the entire economy andthe focusof the local government in the ICT industry as
a catalyst for the country’sdevelopment, Angolais a land of opportunity for ICT players
of all sizes and flavors – from IT equipment vendors to application developersand
operators.
The prioritiesof the Angolan government are promptly defined: the creationand
establishment of e-government, the development of current public infrastructure, the
increase in IT talent and training for youngpeople, attracting international companies in
order to invest in localprojectsand update the communication infrastructure and quality.
To that direction, two government datacentershave been inaugurated in 2012 and a third
one is in the works by the technologic campus. These datacenters provide servicesto all
business sectors, bothpublic and private.
The 12 initiatives Action Plan
The Angolan government has createdand implemented a 12 step program to increase the
competitivenessand development of the ICT industry in the future. These steps include
internet public accesspoints, localmedia libraries, fixedand mobile digital techcenters
for rural areas, ICT equipment for youthhouses and community centers, financing PCs
and smartphones, ICT promotionand debate progrma, ICT professionaltraining courses,
coursesfor entrepreneurs, ICT internships, youthportal, monitoring and reporting
systems.

4. Sources:
http://unctad.org/meetings/en/Presentation/CSTD_2013_Ministerial_WSIS_Angola.p
df
http://www.government.se/sb/d/16761
http://www.itnewsafrica.com/2013/04/angola-focused-on-ict-to-renew-rebuild/
http://mediatecas.ao/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Youth_Engagement_Summit_-
Mauritius_2013.pdf
http://www.worldfolio.co.uk/print.php?id=3016
http://www.theworldfolio.com/news/amilcar-safeca-deputy-ceo-and-chief-technology-
officer-of-the-angolan-mobile-operator-unitel-n3074/3074/
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