Angolan tycoon Isabel dos Santos, once dubbed ‘Africa’s richest woman’, has hit out at Britain for imposing sanctions on her. any country.”
Last month, the daughter of Angola’s former president was described by the British government as a “notorious kleptocrat” and imposed an asset freeze and travel ban for allegedly siphoning wealth from oil-rich Angola.
She said Angola’s government was behind a campaign to tarnish its image.
“At the end of the day it’s politics,” Dos Santos, 51, told the BBC Africa Daily podcast from her base in Dubai.
“There was no investigation where anyone came and investigated and looked at evidence or asked me for clarification. There was no fair trial,” she said.
British Foreign Secretary David Lammy announced the sanctions against Dos Santos as part of his campaign to tackle ‘dirty money’.
A government statement claimed she had “systematically abused her positions at state-owned companies to embezzle at least £350 million”. [$442m]thereby depriving Angola of resources and financing for much-needed development.”
A spokesman for Angola’s attorney general said it was not a political institution and was only investigating evidence of alleged criminality. They said she had been accused of several crimes so she had to defend herself.
A spokesperson for the British Foreign Office said that under the Global Anti-Corruption Sanctions Regulations, Britain “could designate an individual if there are reasonable grounds to suspect that that individual is or has been involved in serious corruption.” . They also pointed out that anyone subject to a sanction can request a review at any time.
The allegations against Dos Santos, which she denies, were first made in 2020 when BBC Panorama reported on leaked documents shared with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).
The exposé, known as “Luanda Leaks”, claimed that one of the most suspicious deals was made through a London-based company.
Dos Santos, the eldest daughter of former President José Eduardo dos Santos – who was in power from 1979 to 2017 – was educated at private schools in Britain during Angola’s long civil war.
After graduating with an electrical engineering degree from King’s College London, she started working in an office at a consultancy firm in Europe.
But in her early 20s, Dos Santos decided she wanted to pursue a more entrepreneurial career at home. She told the BBC that she started delivering cases of beer – Uber style – to restaurants and shops.
She went on to build a huge business empire, setting up a mobile phone company, a satellite TV operator, a commercial bank, a brewery and a cement factory – with interests in other companies in Angola and Portugal.
A month before her 40th birthday, she reached Forbes magazine’s rich list and was named not only Africa’s richest woman, but also the continent’s youngest billionaire.
Dos Santos told BBC Africa Daily that she never thought of herself that way, but saw herself as a “pioneer”.
“I am also my country’s largest private employer. I have created more than 200,000 jobs. I have been one of my country’s largest taxpayers and have contributed the most to building Angola’s economy.”
In 2016, she controversially took charge of struggling state oil company Sonangol. Her nomination was challenged by critics at the time, but the Supreme Court upheld it, she said.
“I had a track record in the private sector. I have a particular knowledge of turning around companies… that are not doing well, and driving them towards efficiency.”
Some of the most serious corruption allegations against her date back to her time in charge of Sonangol.
Within months of her father’s resignation in 2017, she was fired by his chosen successor, President Joao Lourenço, and had her assets frozen two years later.
Angola’s former first daughter believes that Lourenço, who targeted the Dos Santos family in an anti-corruption drive, betrayed her father: ‘He started blaming the past and said everything that happened before him was bad.
“But he himself comes from the [ruling] MPLA, he was the vice president of the party. He was Minister of Defense.
“I think he had a lot more to do with the Angolan economy, Angolan decision-making and political decision-making than most Angolans.”
Dos Santos is also angry that despite her assets being frozen in Angola five years ago, the case has not yet been heard in court – something she says would normally happen within a maximum of 18 months as it is a civil case that usually involves there are allegations of unpaid debts. She says she is not facing any criminal charges.
She also claims the original freezing order was based on forged documents, including a passport in her name with the signature of the late martial arts expert Bruce Lee.
The spokesperson for Angola’s attorney general said they would not publicly discuss the details of any ongoing legal disputes, but said any evidence that documents had been forged should be presented in court.
In 2021, Forbes had dropped her from the list of top billionaires. Dos Santos explains that the asset freeze means that she can no longer receive dividend payments and financial contributions from her companies.
The mother of three has also faced personal losses in recent years: her husband died in a diving accident and when her father passed away in 2022, she did not return to Angola to attend his funeral.
If she were to return to Angola, she could be arrested. At the government’s insistence, Interpol has issued a Red Notice, which is a request to “locate and provisionally arrest” someone, but it is not an international arrest warrant.
Dos Santos says that after these difficult years and further asset freezes, she now wants people to hear her side of a “complex” story to “hopefully clear up existing misconceptions.”
When asked if she would ever run for president, she said it was “a possibility” – echoing comments she made to the BBC four years ago.
“Look, I will always serve my country,” she said. “To lead is to serve, and I want to serve Angola, whether in politics, or in business, whether in philanthropy or culture.”
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