• Angola’s national data center to launch in 2026; construction 75% complete

• Project part of $90M digital plan; all government services to migrate

• Angola ranks 156th on UN e-government index; internet access remains limited

Angola’s new national data center is expected to be operational in the first half of 2026, the government said after a site visit on Thursday by Telecommunications Minister Mário Augusto da Silva Oliveira.

According to André Pedro, Director General of the National Institute for the Promotion of the Information Society (INFOSI), construction is about 75 percent complete, and work is now shifting to equipment installation. The facility uses a modular design of 12 containers, each holding 28 racks, for a total capacity of 336 racks.

Investment in Digital Transformation

The data center is a key component of Angola’s digital transformation plans, which aim to improve public services through the expansion of digital platforms. The project is being developed alongside a unified government cloud and represents a combined investment of around $90 million. Once inaugurated, all government services will be required to migrate to the new system within 30 days, a period that includes testing and full verification of the technology.

Angola currently ranks 156th out of 193 countries on the United Nations’ 2024 E-Government Development Index (EGDI), with an overall score of 0.4149, below both African and global averages. The country scored 0.3962 for Online Services, 0.3724 for Telecommunications Infrastructure, and 0.4760 for Human Capital.

The government said in February 2024 that implementation of the Angola Digital Acceleration Program (PADA), supported by $300 million in World Bank funding, had faced delays partly due to low internet access. DataReportal figures show Angola had 17.2 million internet users at the start of 2023, giving the country an internet penetration rate of 44.8 percent.

Isaac K. Kassouwi