Africell is set to expand its telecommunications infrastructure in Angola after securing a $99.6 million direct loan from the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM), with the financing earmarked for mobile network technology and related investment.
Announced on 11 September 2026, the financing will allow Africell to acquire American and European telecommunications technology for its Angolan operations. The company says the investment is intended to increase network capacity, extend coverage and improve service reliability as demand for mobile connectivity continues to grow.
Africell entered Angola in 2022 and has expanded its network beyond Luanda into several provinces. In August, the company said it had surpassed eight million customers in the country, while its latest expansion has included Soyo in Zaire Province, an important oil and logistics centre in northern Angola.
The transaction also illustrates how telecommunications infrastructure is becoming intertwined with broader questions about technology supply, industrial policy and economic integration in Africa. Africell describes itself as the only US-owned mobile network operator on the continent and currently operates in Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone and The Gambia. Its corporate reporting lists more than 15 million subscribers across those markets.
For EXIM, the transaction forms part of its mandate to support US exports and employment by providing financing for overseas purchases of American goods and services. Africell has said the loan will support the deployment of US and European network technology in Angola, while reporting on the transaction has linked it to Washington’s wider efforts to increase the use of American telecommunications technology in African markets.
The distinction matters for Angola. The financing does not simply represent additional capital for a telecommunications operator; it also gives the country another channel through which international technology suppliers can participate in the development of its digital infrastructure. Africell argues that a broader supplier base can contribute to technological diversification and digital resilience. Such benefits, however, will ultimately depend on how the investment translates into network performance, affordability, geographic coverage and access for users.
The investment also sits within the wider development of the Lobito Corridor, which connects Angola with the mineral-producing regions of the Democratic Republic of Congo and is being extended towards Zambia. US and African institutions have positioned the corridor not solely as a minerals route, but as a wider economic-development corridor involving transport, energy, agriculture, digital infrastructure and regional trade.
The US government has previously described more than $4 billion in commitments and mobilisation around Lobito Corridor projects, while earlier agreements included financing for transport, clean power and communications infrastructure.
For communities and businesses along the corridor, reliable telecommunications could become increasingly important as logistics, trade and industrial activity expand. Yet the broader significance of Africell’s financing will depend on more than the installation of new equipment. Its impact will be measured by whether expanded infrastructure improves the everyday reliability and accessibility of digital services for Angolan consumers and businesses.
The $99.6 million facility therefore represents both a commercial investment in Africell’s Angolan network and a component of a larger shift in the continent’s digital infrastructure landscape, where African governments, operators and institutions are navigating competing sources of capital, technology and strategic partnerships.
