Before you start

Your passport — the identification a foreigner registers a SIM against
An unlocked handset; check eSIM support with *#06#
An address for the registration form
Kwanzas in cash

Step-by-step

1
Buy at an operator shop, not on the street
INACOM prohibited SIM sales through street vendors and informal channels, and registration has been mandatory since 2014 with unregistered cards suspended. A SIM that already works when handed to you is registered to somebody else — a problem you inherit rather than avoid.
In personWho: YouMinutesA few hundred to a couple of thousand kwanzas
2
Register in your own name
Bring the passport and have the agent complete registration there and then. A line registered to a colleague cannot be re-tariffed, ported or recovered by you, and your bank's one-time codes will be arriving on it.
In personWho: YouMinutesFree
3
Carry two networks if you leave the coastal axis
Coverage is good along the 30 km between Benguela and Lobito and gets patchy quickly inland. On the road up to Huambo, or south past Baía Farta and Dombe Grande, a second SIM on a different operator is the difference between an inconvenience and a problem. The regulator-mandated protected package at AOA 2,000 for 70 minutes, 50 SMS and 500 MB is a sensible thing to put on it.
In personWho: YouSame dayAOA 2,000/month for the protected package
4
Sort home internet as fixed-wireless, and check the exact address
Fixed-line broadband is thin across Angola. Unitel's NetCasa runs roughly AOA 4,000 to AOA 125,000 a month across 10–200 Mb/s and Africell's Konekta 5G offers unlimited 30-day plans at 25, 50 and 100 Mb/s, with 5G in the main cities. Coverage is address-specific — check before you sign a lease if you work from home.
In personWho: YouDays including installationAOA 4,000–125,000/mo depending on speed and availability
5
Know the protected package exists
When INACOM authorised the operators to raise prices by up to 25%, it required a protected integrated package exempt from the increase: AOA 2,000 a month for 70 minutes, 50 SMS and 500 MB. It is not a professional's plan but it is a floor you can quote at a counter, and useful on a second SIM.
In personWho: YouOngoingAOA 2,000/month

Documents you’ll need

Passport
Residence document if you have one
An address for the registration form
An unlocked handset

Things most newcomers don’t know

Coverage follows the corridor, and so should your expectations.

The Benguela–Catumbela–Lobito axis is well served because that is where the population and the money are. Ten kilometres inland the picture changes, and on the planalto road it changes a lot. Plan communications around the axis, not around the province.

Source: Angolan mobile coverage patterns / INACOM market data

Africell's 2022 entry is why data prices are what they are.

Angola ran on two operators for years and prices reflected it. Any tariff comparison written before 2022 describes a different market — if a guide names only Unitel and Movicel, discard its pricing.

Source: INACOM / Angolan mobile market post-2022

The regulator authorised a 25% rise and fixed a floor at the same time.

INACOM's price-adjustment authorisation came with a mandated protected package at AOA 2,000 for 70 minutes, 50 SMS and 500 MB. Counter staff do not always lead with it; knowing it exists makes the conversation two-sided.

Source: INACOM price-adjustment authorisation

Check the address, not the city, before signing a lease.

With home internet effectively meaning fixed-wireless, the building and the floor decide your bandwidth. Remote workers reliably forget to ask, and it is not fixable after the deposit is paid.

Source: Unitel NetCasa / Africell Konekta service model