A local line in Angola costs a fraction of the only travel eSIM on sale: Africell's own eSIM gives 10 GB for a month at 6,600 kwanzas, about US$7, and Unitel's 15 GB month costs 10,000 kwanzas, just under US$11. Nomad sells 10 GB on the same Africell network for US$49. The local route has two real costs. One is a visit to a branded shop with your passport, during hours that mostly end at 17:00 on weekdays and at lunchtime on Saturday. The other is choosing the right network, because Angola's two serious operators are built very differently: Unitel reaches every province and is congested in Luanda, while Africell is quicker in the capital and absent from most of the country.
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Unitel, Africell, and Why Movicel Is Not an Option
At the end of 2025, according to INACOM data analysed by Expansao, Angola had around 28.4 million mobile subscriptions. Unitel held 73 per cent of them, Africell 26 per cent and Movicel about 1 per cent. Those shares tell you most of what you need.
Unitel launched in 2001 and is the default network in Angola, with shops in all of the old eighteen provinces from Cabinda to Cuando Cubango. It is the only operator a visitor can count on in Malanje, Lubango, Namibe or along the long national roads between them. It also runs the Unitel Money wallet and a 5G service in parts of Luanda. The complaint against it, voiced in Expansao's April 2026 performance report, is that customer growth has run ahead of investment, so the network can crawl at peak hours in the capital.
Africell arrived in April 2022 with free on-net calls and cheap gigabytes and took a quarter of the market in under four years. The same April 2026 report found it ahead of Unitel on Speedtest results over twelve months, but present in only 6 of the 21 provinces, by a deliberate choice to build in cities and economic corridors first. It is also the network behind Nomad, the only travel eSIM that sells Angola.
Movicel: skip it
Movicel was Angola's first mobile operator, born inside Angola Telecom in the late 1990s. Today its main shareholder is the state social security institute INSS, it has lost about 1.8 million customers since 2019, and it ended 2025 with roughly 300,000. Expansao described it in July 2026 as being in a deep coma for lack of investment. Even where a Movicel kiosk is open, there is no reason to choose it.
What Unitel and Africell Charge in Kwanzas
The table below uses the operators' own published prepaid data offers, checked on their websites in October 2026, with dollar figures at about 920 kwanzas to the US dollar. Africell's prices include 14 per cent VAT. The Nomad rows are there for scale.
| Bundle | Data | Validity | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unitel Net 3 GB | 3 GB | 3 days | 1,500 Kz (about $1.60) |
| Unitel Net 10 GB | 10 GB | 7 days | 4,000 Kz (about $4.35) |
| Unitel Net Mensal | 7 GB | 31 days | 5,000 Kz (about $5.45) |
| Unitel Net Mensal | 15 GB | 31 days | 10,000 Kz (about $10.85) |
| Africell Afrinet | 4 GB | 7 days | 2,000 Kz (about $2.15) |
| Africell Afrinet | 18 GB | 30 days | 10,000 Kz (about $10.85) |
| Africell eSIM data | 10 GB | 30 days | 6,600 Kz (about $7.15) |
| Nomad eSIM | 3 GB | 30 days | $19 |
| Nomad eSIM | 10 GB | 30 days | $49 |
The gap is roughly five to seven times per gigabyte, and on the same network in Africell's case. Two quirks are worth knowing. Unitel's one-week 10 GB pack at 4,000 kwanzas is better value than its month bundles if your trip is short, and Africell's day packs go as low as 300 kwanzas for 400 MB, which suits a traveller who mostly lives on hotel WiFi. Unitel bundles are activated through the *111# menu or short codes such as *107*5000# for the 7 GB month; Africell's Afrinet menu sits behind *123*1#.
The local eSIM most visitors miss
Africell sells its own eSIM in Angola, and its website says it is issued free, with 10 GB of bonus data for new customers. Its eSIM data packs run from 5 GB for 3,300 kwanzas to 50 GB for 30,000 kwanzas, all for thirty days, and there are voice bundles too, such as 6.5 GB with 300 minutes for 5,000 kwanzas. You still collect it in a shop with ID, but it means a phone with no SIM tray, or a dual-eSIM phone with your home number in the other slot, can carry an Angolan line. Unitel also offers eSIM in its shops, subject to stock.
The Passport Visit and the Shop Clock
Angolan lines are registered in person. Africell's instructions for its eSIM tell customers to bring a valid identity document and list the passport, the national identity card or a driving licence; a foreign visitor should simply bring the passport and expect it to be scanned or copied. We did not find a published 2026 rule from INACOM on biometric capture or on blocking unregistered cards, so we have not assumed one. What we can say is that nobody sells a properly registered line to a foreigner on a street corner.
How a first visit usually goes
1. Check your phone works on local networks and, for an eSIM, that it shows an EID when you dial *#06#.
2. Go to a branded Unitel or Africell shop with your physical passport.
3. Staff register the line against your passport details.
4. Choose a bundle and have them load it, or activate it yourself by USSD once you are back on hotel WiFi.
5. Keep the SIM pack or eSIM card, which carries the PIN and PUK.
Time is the real price
Unitel's store finder shows most branches open 08:00 to 17:00 Monday to Friday and 08:30 to 12:30 on Saturday, with a few city shops closing at 16:00. Belas Shopping, in the southern Luanda suburbs, is the exception, opening 09:00 to 22:00 and on Sundays. A traveller landing on a Friday evening at the new airport, 40 km from town, may realistically not get a local line until Saturday morning or Monday.
Matching the Network to the Itinerary
The choice in Angola is not about price, because the two operators charge almost identical kwanza amounts for similar data. It is about where you are going.
Choose Unitel for
Choose Africell for
Long-stay visitors and rotational workers often carry both: Unitel as the dependable national line and Africell for faster data in the capital. A dual-SIM phone makes that painless, and at these prices both lines together still cost less than one month of the eSIM.
Kwanzas, Top-Ups and the Multicaixa Network
Bundles are paid for from airtime credit, and credit is bought in kwanzas. Branded shops are the easiest place to pay; outside them, top-up comes as scratch cards or electronic recharges from agents and street sellers, all in cash. Unitel's own page points customers to Multicaixa, Angola's interbank network, as a channel: the Multicaixa Express app, ATMs and internet banking can recharge a line directly. That is convenient for anyone with a local bank account, such as an expatriate on a long contract, and largely irrelevant to a short-stay visitor whose foreign card does not live in that system.
Practical habits that save hassle
Buy a bigger bundle than you think you need, because recharging from a foreign card is awkward and running out on a Sunday leaves you waiting for a shop. Check balance on Unitel with *102*1# or the My Unitel app, and on Africell through the *123# menu. Africell says its larger packs can be stacked, each keeping its own validity, so topping up before the first runs out is safe on that network.
Change money at banks or official bureaux rather than on the street, and carry enough kwanzas for the first day, since the new airport is a long way from the city's banks.
When the Nomad eSIM Still Earns Its Price
In most countries on this site the local card wins on money and the eSIM wins on convenience. Angola adds a third factor: the eSIM is tied to Africell's map, so it is a city product, and the local card's advantage grows the further you travel.
| Your trip | Best choice | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Three days of meetings in Luanda | Nomad 1 GB or 3 GB | No shop visit, working at the airport, Africell is quick in the city |
| Two weeks or more in Luanda | Africell eSIM or Unitel card | Five to seven times cheaper per gigabyte |
| Road trip to Malanje, Lubango or Namibe | Unitel card | The only national footprint |
| Weekend arrival, shops shut | Nomad, then local on Monday | Bridges the gap until a branch opens |
| Offshore or remote oil site | Ask the employer | Sites often rely on private or satellite links |
If you do buy Nomad, the Angola eSIM guide has its four plans with verified prices, and the Luanda airport guide explains how far the new terminal is from any shop. The eSIM Finder will size a plan to your dates, and the Holafly review covers a provider that does not currently sell Angola, which is worth knowing if you are combining it with a neighbouring country.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much is a month of data on a Unitel line?
Unitel's Net Mensal bundles last 31 days and cost 1,500 kwanzas for 1.5 GB, 3,000 for 3.5 GB, 5,000 for 7 GB and 10,000 for 15 GB. At around 920 kwanzas to the dollar, the 15 GB month is just under 11 dollars. You can activate them from the *111# menu, by short code, or ask the shop to do it when you buy the line.
Can I get an Angolan eSIM instead of a plastic card?
Yes. Africell sells its own eSIM in its shops and says it is free, with 10 GB of bonus data for new customers, and its data packs start at 5 GB for 3,300 kwanzas. Unitel also issues eSIMs in store, subject to stock. Either way you go in person with ID; neither can be bought online from abroad.
Will an Africell line work on a trip to Kalandula Falls?
Do not count on it. Africell operates in only 6 of Angola's 21 provinces and does not publish which ones it covers in detail. Unitel is the network with a national footprint, and even its signal is patchy near the falls. For any road trip inland, buy Unitel and download offline maps.
What documents does a foreigner need to buy a line in Luanda?
Your passport. Africell lists a passport, Angolan identity card or driving licence as acceptable ID, and a foreigner will be registered on the passport. Go to a branded shop rather than a street seller. Most Unitel branches keep weekday hours to 17:00 and close at 12:30 on Saturday.
Is it worth buying a Movicel SIM?
No. Movicel ended 2025 with around 300,000 customers and about 1 per cent of the market, after years without investment in its network. Unitel and Africell carry almost all of Angola's mobile traffic and are the only two worth your passport and your time.