The milestone was announced at FILDA 2026, Angola’s biggest business fair, where Africell also confirmed plans to extend its network into seven additional provinces.
Africell Angola has surpassed seven million customers, less than five years after launching commercial services in the country.
The figure was disclosed by Sued Oliveira, Creative Team Leader at Africell Angola, at the 41st edition of the Luanda International Fair (FILDA), held from 21 to 26 July at the Luanda-Bengo Special Economic Zone in Icolo e Bengo. Speaking to press during the fair, Oliveira said the growth of the customer base reflects the steady adoption of Africell’s services among Angolans, who increasingly recognise Africell’s advantages over other operators.
Africell entered Angola as the country’s fourth mobile operator, receiving a unified telecommunications licence in February 2021 and completing its first test call on the Angolan network in December of that year. Commercial services launched on 7 April 2022. Reaching seven million customers inside five years makes Angola one of the fastest-growing markets in Africell’s history, alongside its operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone and The Gambia.
Seven more provinces
Africell also used FILDA to confirm that the network is entering a new phase of national expansion, with coverage set to extend to seven additional provinces, including Cabinda, Zaire, Bié and others that will be announced soon.
Africell currently operates in Luanda, Benguela, Huambo, Huíla and Cuanza Sul. The next phase is designed both to reach new communities for the first time and to strengthen capacity in the provinces where Africell already operates, advancing the company’s wider objective of widening access to affordable, high-quality mobile connectivity across Angola.
AfriGPT comes to the web
Among the products showcased at the Africell stand was the web version of AfriGPT, the company’s artificial intelligence platform, built to help students, professionals and businesses with everyday productivity tasks.
AfriGPT was first launched in Sierra Leone and The Gambia in USSD format so that it could be used on basic handsets without a data connection, an innovative approach that made AI tools available to customers who are often left out of the digital economy altogether. The web release showcased at FILDA extends the service with more advanced functionality on computers, tablets and smartphones, giving users a single AI assistant that scales to whatever device they have.
Africell also hosted KonektaTalks at FILDA, a programme of discussions on digital innovation, social media, content creation and the monetisation of digital platforms, bringing together creators, marketers and businesses working in Angola’s growing digital economy.
Solutions for business
Africell Business, the company’s enterprise division, presented its recently launched portfolio of connectivity and digital solutions for Angolan companies, led by the Private Access Point Name (APN) service. Speaking at FILDA, Francisco Camalengui, Team Leader at Africell Business, explained that Private APN allows corporate customers to establish a secure link between their equipment and their own servers, enabling remote device management and real-time access to information; an ideal solution, he said, for businesses operating connected equipment such as smart energy and water meters.
The service is built to enterprise security standards and integrates with customers’ existing technology infrastructure, including protection systems such as firewalls, to safeguard the confidentiality and integrity of their data.
Alongside Private APN, Africell Business showcased Bulk SMS for mass communication campaigns, corporate plans offering free calls and messages between colleagues at the same company, VPN services, and APN M2M, widely used by the banking sector to guarantee connectivity for point-of-sale terminals.
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