# Cyberattack Cripples Unitel Services on Eve of Historic IPO **Unitel**, Angola's dominant telecommunications operator, announced Tuesday that it was hit by a major cyberattack in the early hours, severely disrupting voice services, mobile data, and internet access for millions across the nation. The incident occurred less than 24 hours before the formerly state-owned company was scheduled to make its landmark debut on the Angolan stock exchange, **BODIVA**. ## Attack Detected, Services Disrupted **Unitel** detected the incident shortly after 2 a.m. local time. The company stated that "response and containment mechanisms were immediately activated, and technical and cybersecurity teams were mobilized" to mitigate the impact and restore services. As of reporting, services remain disrupted, with restoration efforts ongoing. While **Unitel** has not provided a timeline for full service restoration or commented on the nature of the attack, network measurement data offers some clues. Data from **RIPE NCC**, reviewed by Recorded Future News, indicates that **Unitel**'s IP prefixes remained announced to the global internet throughout the incident. This suggests that the routers connecting the company to the broader internet stayed online. Such a pattern implies the disruption likely stemmed from an incident disabling core internal systems, rather than an external source like an upstream connectivity cut or a volumetric Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack. Traffic telemetry from **Cloudflare Radar** further supports this, showing a sharp collapse in **Unitel**'s traffic from the time of detection, remaining well below baseline. The disruption appears isolated to **Unitel**, with no other Angolan network operator reporting similar degradations. The outage has also impacted point-of-sale payment terminals operating on **Unitel**'s network, affecting business communications and other digital services reliant on internet access, as reported by Angolan business publication **Expansão**. ## IPO Proceeds Amidst Outage Despite the ongoing outage, **Unitel** commenced trading Wednesday on **BODIVA**, marking the largest initial public offering (IPO) in Angola’s capital market history. **Unitel** boasts a subscriber base of over 21 million, representing a 76% market share in a country with an estimated population of 40 million. The Angolan state, through its asset management institute **IGAPE**, sold a 15% stake in the company. The offering, which ran from July 6 to July 24, was oversubscribed by 120.72%, attracting more than 11,000 investors. This listing is a cornerstone of President **João Lourenço**'s privatization program, aimed at reducing state dominance in the economy and attracting foreign capital. **Unitel** is the first non-financial company to list on the Angolan exchange, and its successful subscription is seen as a crucial test of investor appetite for Angolan state assets. **Unitel** came under state control in 2022 after authorities seized shareholdings previously owned by **Isabel dos Santos**, daughter of former President **José Eduardo dos Santos**, as part of broader efforts to dismantle business networks associated with the previous administration. Trading proceeded on Wednesday, valuing the company at $2.14 billion and raising approximately $321 million for the government's stake. Neither **BODIVA** nor Angola’s capital markets regulator has issued public statements regarding the incident or its potential link to the IPO.