Isabel dos Santos

Not to be confused with Isabel Santos.

Isabel dos Santos
Santos in 2019
Director of Sonangol
In office
2 June 2016 – 17 November 2017
PresidentJosé Eduardo dos Santos
João Lourenço
Personal details
Born
Isabel Kukanova dos Santos

(1973-04-20) 20 April 1973 (age 51)[1]
Baku, Azerbaijan SSR, Soviet Union[2]
CitizenshipRussia[3] and Angola
Spouse
​
​
(m. 2002; died 2020)​
Children3[4]
Parents
Relatives
Alma materKing's College London
OccupationBusinesswoman

Isabel Kukanova dos Santos ([izɐˈβɛl duʃ ˈsɐ̃tuʃ]; born 20 April 1973) is an Angolan businesswoman, the eldest child of Angola's former President José Eduardo dos Santos, who ruled the country from 1979 to 2017.[5]

As early as 2013 Forbes described how dos Santos acquired her wealth by taking stakes in companies doing business in Angola, suggesting that her wealth came almost entirely from her family's power and connections.[6][7] Since 2018, the Angolan government has been trying to prosecute Isabel dos Santos for corruption that may have led to Angola's ongoing recession.[8] On 30 December 2019, the Luanda Provincial Court ordered the freezing of dos Santos's Angolan bank accounts and the seizure of her stake in local companies, including Unitel (Angola) and Banco de Fomento Angola.[9] Two weeks later, the Angolan Government announced it had prepared the legal battle to confiscate dos Santos's assets in Portugal,[10] a process that is operative in the form of letters rogatory sent to Portugal to stop the transfer of funds from Portuguese Commercial Bank to a Russian bank.[which?][11]

As of January 2020, she was under investigation in Portugal and has since taken on the United Arab Emirates as her official country of residence.[12][13][14] In December 2021, the US State Department barred Dos Santos and her immediate family from entering the United States, citing "significant corruption by misappropriating public funds for her personal benefit".[15][16][17] Once considered Africa's richest woman according to Forbes magazine, with a net worth exceeding US$2 billion, she was dropped from the magazine's list in January 2021 after the freezing of her assets in Angola, Portugal and the Netherlands.[18] In 2021 a French court ruled that she was liable to pay $340 million to the Portuguese company PT Ventures.[19] On 18 November 2022, Interpol issued a warrant for her arrest.[20] In December 2023 her assets were frozen following a hearing at the High Court in London.[21]

Early life and education

[edit]

Isabel Kukanova dos Santos[22] was born in Baku, Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic,[23] the eldest daughter of Angola's longtime President José Eduardo dos Santos (1942–2022) and his first wife, the Russian-born Tatiana Kukanova, whom he met while studying in the then Soviet republic of Azerbaijan.[24][25][26][27] Her father's parents came from São Tomé and Príncipe.[28][29] She attended an all girls boarding school in Kent, Cobham Hall School, and St Paul's Girls' School in London.[30] She studied electrical engineering[31] at King's College in London.[32][failed verification]

Career

[edit]

In the early 90s, dos Santos started working as a project manager engineer for Urbana 2000, a subsidiary of Jembas Group, that had won a contract to clean and disinfect Luanda.[33] Thereafter, she set up a trucking business. The widespread use of walkie-talkie technology paved the way for a subsequent foray into telecoms.[4] In 1997, she started her first business, opening the Miami Beach Club, one of the first night clubs and beach restaurants on Luanda Island.[34] In 1997, dos Santos entered the international business world, creating companies and holdings in Angola but mostly abroad, making substantial investments in high-profile enterprises, especially in Portugal.[35][36] As of 2014, holdings of dos Santos included:[37][38]

  • Trans Africa Investment Services, a Gibraltar-based vehicle founded together with her mother for the diamond business
  • Unitel International Holdings B.V.: change of name of Kento and Jadeium, based in Amsterdam, company vehicle for dos Santos' investment in telecommunications
  • Santoro Finance: company vehicle for dos Santos' investment in Banco BPI based in Lisbon
  • Esperaza Holding B.V.: based in Amsterdam, energy and oil
  • Condis: a retail business based in Luanda

In June 2016, her father appointed her as chair of Sonangol, the Angolan state oil company.[39] In November 2017, João Lourenço, the new Angolan President, fired her just two months after being sworn into office in the wake of similar appointments of children of the president to key posts.[40]

On 30 December 2019, the Luanda Provincial Court ordered the preventive seizure of the personal bank accounts of dos Santos, her husband, Sindika Dokolo, and Mário Filipe Moreira Leite da Silva. According to the Attorney General's office, the three businesspeople entered into deals with the Angolan state through the companies SODIAM, a public diamond sales company, and Sonangol, the state oil company. With these deals, the Angolan state suffered a loss of $1.14 billion.[41] The court produced a document showing that the assets and many others owned by dos Santos had been acquired using funds from two state-owned companies.[42] In January 2020, the Portuguese Attorney-General's Office opened an investigation into a number of her operations after Ana Gomes, a Portuguese Member of the European Parliament laid charges against her.[12] Following the seizure, she assumed the UAE as her official country of residence.[13][14] In January 2021, Forbes removed her from the list of the richest people in Africa, since her assets in Angola and Portugal had been frozen.[18]

Investments in Portugal

[edit]

Since 2008 dos Santos has had interests in key Portuguese sectors, such as telecommunications, media, retail, finance and the energy. In 2012 dos Santos made a series of acquisitions in ZON Multimédia, a telecommunications and media company providing mobile and fixed telephony, cable television, satellite television and internet. From an initial small stake in the company, she became the biggest shareholder, with 28.8% in 2012. The acquisitions were made via holding companies Jadeium and Kento, later Netherlands-based Unitel International Holdings BV.[43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52]

In 2010, she bought a 20% stake at Banco Português de Investimento through Santoro Holding .[53][54] She has other major stakes with the Angolan state oil company Sonangol through their mutual European Law holding, based in the Netherlands, named Esperanza Holding, in Portuguese Galp Energia.[55] Dos Santos is a founding member and board member of Banco BIC Português,[56] which recently acquired Banco Português de Negócios, a nationalized bank.

In December 2012, dos Santos announced the invitation for a merger of ZON with Sonaecom, approved in March 2013 by the General Assembly.[48] Since her investments in Portugal were in listed companies they were subject to official supervision of the Portuguese Securities Market Commission (Comissão do Mercado de Valores Mobiliários, CMVM, in Portuguese).[57]

On 27 August 2013, after the green light from the Competition Authority, the merger of the two companies was formalized with the transfer to ZOPT, a special purpose vehicle created to advance the operation, which became the owner of more 50% of the capital of the new group, the shares that dos Santos and Sonaecom hold on Zon and Optimus respectively. There was a capital increase of ZOPT through contribution in kind from 50 to 716 million euros, while Sonaecom subscribed 358 million shares of the company, by delivering 81.8% of its stake in Optimus. The Angolan businesswoman, on her turn, subscribed exactly the same number of shares of ZOPT, through her holdings Kento and Unitel International, delivering 28.8% of the stake in ZON.[58][59][60][61] With this transfer of shareholdings in Optimus and Zon, Sonaecom and dos Santos became holders of over 50% stake in the merged company: Zon Optimus SGPS. On this occasion, a new strategy for the company was announced by dos Santos, with a multimarket vision.[62][63] On 1 October 2013, dos Santos attended the first General Assembly of Zon Optimus.[64]

In November 2014, dos Santos launched a takeover bid for Portugal Telecom, SGPS, S.A., valuing the firm's shares at €1.35 a share, in what was seen as a rival bid to a previous €7 billion offer from Altice, though the offer made by Altice was on PT Portugal, not on PT SGPS.[65] On 1 December 2014, she formally registered her offer at the Portuguese Securities Market Commission.[66]

In January 2017 Unitel, led by dos Santos, purchased 2% of Banco Fomento de Angola (BFA) from BPI for 28 million euros and controlled 51.9% of the bank's capital.[67] In December 2016 the National Bank of Angola (BNA), the sector regulator, had approved this operation. In February 2017 dos Santos sold her position in Banco BPI, following the takeover bid launched by CaixaBank. From her ownership from 2009 to 2017 she won more than 80 million euros in capital gain, not only from the sale of the 18.5% holding on BPI, but also from the dividends from 2008 and 2009, worth around 12.6 million euros.[68]

Investments in Angola

[edit]

In April 2011, dos Santos with 51% control of Condis, signed a joint partnership with the Portuguese Sonae group for the development and operation of a retail trading company in Angola. The entry in Angola by the Portuguese group led by Paulo de Azevedo was to be performed by the Continente (Angola), which planned to open the first supermarket by 2013 in Angola.[69]

She created Unitel (Angola) in partnership with Portugal Telecom, after a tender process she considered fair.[4] As of 2013, she had acquired the mobile operator T+ in Cape Verde also through Unitel International Holding, a platform for Unitel investments where Portugal telecom has no presence, and gained the license to establish the second telecom operator in São Tomé and Príncipe.[70][71][72] In May 2013, dos Santos announced during a visit to São Tomé and Príncipe that Unitel would invest in education in the country to train engineers, managers and other technicians and also focus on job creation.[73]

By 2015, dos Santos owned a share of satellite-TV operator ZAP, which had in December 2013 acquired the rights to distribute Forbes in a number of Portuguese-speaking countries, namely Portugal, Angola, and Mozambique. It had been announced that most of the content would be produced by a local team, complemented by content for the North American edition, therefore potentially allowing influence on Forbes content. It was initially planned that the first edition of the Portuguese language Forbes would be published during the second quarter of 2014.[74]

In October 2022, Angolan President President João Lourenço issued a decision to nationalise the Angolan operator Unitel, ending her links with the operator.[75]

Prosecution for corruption, 2018-present

[edit]

Since 2018, the Angolan government has been trying to prosecute Isabel dos Santos for corruption which may have led to Angola's recession.[8] On 30 December 2019, the Luanda Provincial Court ordered to freeze dos Santos's Angolan bank accounts and to seize her stake in local companies, including Unitel (Angola) and Banco de Fomento Angola.[9] In January 2019, the Angolan Government announced it prepared the legal battle to confiscate dos Santos's assets in Portugal,[10]/ and sent letters rogatory to Portugal to stop the transfer of funds from Portuguese Commercial Bank to a Russian bank.[11]

As of January 2020, she was under investigation in Portugal and has since assumed the United Arab Emirates as her official country of residence.[12][13][14] In December 2021, the US State Department barred Dos Santos and her immediate family from entering the United States, citing "significant corruption by misappropriating public funds for her personal benefit".[15][16][17] On May 27, 2022 she was still photographed smiling at the Cannes Film Festival.[76]

On 18 November 2022, Interpol issued a warrant for her arrest.[20] As of 2023, she lived in Dubai, and made at least one trip to Qatar.[77] In December 2023, she lost a legal battle in London’s High Court to prevent a freeze on up to £580 million ($733 million) of her assets.[78] In January 2024 she was accused by the Angolan high court to have used "offshore companies, fraudulent invoices, forged documents and “exorbitant” salary raises to illegally pocket millions".[76]

Luanda Leaks, 2020

[edit]

On 19 January 2020 the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) published a detailed report on how dos Santos amassed her wealth over the years. The report, based on information provided by corruption watchdog The Platform to Protect Whistleblowers in Africa – which it called Luanda Leaks – said she "made a fortune at the expense of the Angolan people".[79]

The night of 22 January, three days after the leaks, her personal wealth manager and private banking director Nuno Ribeiro da Cunha was found dead in the garage of his house.[80]

Personal life

[edit]

Dos Santos was married to Congolese businessman Sindika Dokolo,[81] son of a millionaire from Kinshasa, Augustin Dokolo, and his Danish wife, Hanne Kruse.[82] Sindika Dokolo died in a diving accident in Dubai in October 2020 at the age of 48.[83] She lives in Dubai.[84]

Recognition

[edit]

She was recognized as one of the BBC's 100 women of 2015.[85]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Fernandes, Filipe S. (2016). "Isabel dos Santos – Segredos e poder do dinheiro" (PDF) (in Portuguese). Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 June 2016.
  2. ^ "In the spotlight: Isabel dos Santos, Angola's 'princess'". France24. 23 January 2020.
  3. ^ "Isabel dos Santos muda-se para o Dubai, um novo paraíso fiscal". Jornal Expresso. 3 January 2020.
  4. ^ a b c Burgis, Tom (29 March 2013). "Lunch with the FT: Isabel dos Santos". Financial Times. Retrieved 8 January 2016.
  5. ^ "José Eduardo dos Santos, who plundered Angola, dies at 79". Washington Post. 8 January 2022.
  6. ^ Dolan, Kerry A. (14 August 2013). "Daddy's Girl: How An African 'Princess' Banked $3 Billion in a Country Living On $2 Per Day". Forbes. Retrieved 16 March 2016.
  7. ^ "Isabel dos Santos desmente acusações de enriquecimento ilícito feitas pela Forbes". Económico. Archived from the original on 29 August 2016. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  8. ^ a b "Gestão da Sonangol: PGR mandou instaurar processo criminal contra Isabel dos Santos". ANGONOTÍCIAS. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
  9. ^ a b "Angola orders Isabel dos Santos asset seizure". BBC. 31 December 2019.
  10. ^ a b "Governo angolano prepara confisco de bens de Isabel dos Santos em Portugal" (in Portuguese). Angola24horas. 11 January 2020. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
  11. ^ a b Norinha, Vítor (3 January 2020). "De bestial a persona non-grata" (in Portuguese). Jornal Económico. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
  12. ^ a b c Simões, Lígia (10 January 2020). "Exclusivo. DCIAP investiga operações de Isabel dos Santos denunciadas por Ana Gomes" (in Portuguese). Jornal Económico. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
  13. ^ a b c "Angola: Cidadã russa Isabel dos Santos imune à extradição?" (in Portuguese). DeutscheWelle. 9 January 2020. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
  14. ^ a b c "Portugal: la justice ouvre une enquête sur Isabel dos Santos" (in French). 11 January 2020. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
  15. ^ a b "Isabel dos Santos: Angolan billionaire hit with US visa restrictions". BBC News. 10 December 2021. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
  16. ^ a b "Angola: Isabel dos Santos, 'Dino' and 'Kopelipa' sanctioned by US". The Africa Report.com. 13 December 2021. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
  17. ^ a b "Isabel dos Santos, Subject of Luanda Leaks, Barred from U.S. for 'Significant Corruption'". PBS Frontline. 10 December 2021. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
  18. ^ a b "How Isabel Dos Santos, Once Africa's Richest Woman, Went Broke". Forbes. 22 January 2021.
  19. ^ Dolan, Kerry A. (22 January 2021). "Former Angolan Billionaire Isabel Dos Santos Is Liable For $340 Million Payment After French Court Ruling". Forbes. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  20. ^ a b "Interpol issues arrest warrant for Angola's Isabel dos Santos, Lusa reports". Reuters. 19 November 2022.
  21. ^ "Angolan billionaire hit with £580m asset freeze". BBC News. 20 December 2023. Retrieved 20 December 2023.
  22. ^ Supremo Tribunal ordena novo arresto dos bens de Isabel dos Santos. Valor Económico Angola. 27 December 2022.
  23. ^ ISABEL DOS SANTOS – SEGREDOS E PODER DO DINHEIRO Archived 15 June 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Filipe S. Fernandes. Documentation (Portuguese)
  24. ^ Дудина, Галина; (Dudina, Galina) (21 January 2021). "Душа Сантуша: Как россиянка стала богатейшей женщиной Африки" [Soul of Santos: How a Russian woman became the richest woman in Africa]. Коммерсантъ (in Russian). Archived from the original on 21 January 2020. Retrieved 24 September 2021.
  25. ^ The Guardian: "Isabel dos Santos, dubbed 'princess', named Africa's first female billionaire" by David Smith 25 January 2013
  26. ^ Mail & Guardian (Zambia): "Angola: Who's who in the palace?" by Louise Redvers 2 November 2012
  27. ^ The Australian: "Angolan Africa's first woman billionaire" 25 January 2013
  28. ^ Biography at MPLA website Archived 22 January 2011 at the Wayback Machine (in Portuguese)
  29. ^ Mail & Guardian: "Angola: Who's who in the palace?" by Louise Redvers 2 November 2012
  30. ^ Garside, Juliette; Burke, Jason (19 January 2020). "Isabel dos Santos: president's daughter who became Africa's richest woman". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 February 2021.
  31. ^ Celso Filipe, Report about Isabel dos Santos on Negócios Online, December 2008
  32. ^ "Isabel dos Santos: 'First African female billionaire'". BBC News. 25 January 2013.
  33. ^ "Isabel dos Santos: o rosto de Angola". Público (in Portuguese). 20 July 2007. Retrieved 8 January 2016.
  34. ^ "Meet The Forbes Second Richest African Woman: Isabel dos Santos". The African Economist. 4 December 2012. Retrieved 8 January 2016.
  35. ^ "Isabel dos Santos reforça em Portugal com entrada na Zon Diário Económico, 21 December 2009 (pt)". Archived from the original on 15 March 2016. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  36. ^ "Isabel dos Santos é a 18ª figura mais poderosa da economia portuguesa". www.jornaldenegocios.pt (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 16 February 2022.
  37. ^ "Os negócios de Isabel dos Santos em Portugal". Dinheiro Vivo Online (in Portuguese). 9 May 2012. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
  38. ^ A Angolana mais rica de Portugal, English: "The richest Angolan in Portugal", clipquick.com, 1 August 2012 (pt)
  39. ^ "All in the family: Angola president picks eldest daughter to head state oil firm, western firms scramble for contracts". MG Africa. 3 June 2016. Archived from the original on 16 February 2017. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
  40. ^ "Angola president dismisses Sonangol chair Isabel dos Santos". Reuters. 15 November 2017. Retrieved 30 November 2022.
  41. ^ "Tribunal decreta arresto preventivo a contas e empresas de Isabel dos Santos". sabado.pt.
  42. ^ "Angola News: Isabel dos Santos Says Asset Freeze Risks Businesses". Bloomberg L.P. 3 January 2020. Retrieved 3 October 2020.
  43. ^ "Qualified Shareholding" (PDF). CMVM. 8 May 2012.
  44. ^ "Qualified Shareholding" (PDF). CMVM. 9 May 2012.
  45. ^ Dolan, Kerry (23 January 2013). "Isabel Dos Santos, Daughter Of Angola's President, Is Africa's First Woman Billionaire". Forbes. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  46. ^ "Isabel dos Santos acquires Cineveste stake in Zon Multimedia". 6 June 2012. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  47. ^ "Angola's dos Santos becomes top Zon shareholder". 9 May 2012. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  48. ^ a b "ANNOUNCEMENT" (PDF). CMVM Official website. 14 December 2012.
  49. ^ Angola: Isabel dos Santos reinforces her presence in Portuguese firms Archived 2 October 2016 at the Wayback Machine Portugaldailyview.com, 9 May 2012
  50. ^ Millennium investment banking: Kento qualified holding comment 14 March 2011 (page 1)
  51. ^ "NYSE Euronext Company profile". Archived from the original on 10 July 2011.
  52. ^ "Accionistas da Zon aprovam por unanimidade entrada de Isabel dos Santos - Economia - PUBLICO.PT". 9 August 2011. Archived from the original on 9 August 2011. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
  53. ^ Bloomberg: Isabel dos Santos wants to raise stake at BPI, 22 December 2010
  54. ^ "Site RI". bpi.bancobpi.pt. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
  55. ^ "Report on Voice of America (pt)". Archived from the original on 22 May 2011. Retrieved 15 March 2011.
  56. ^ "Banco BIC Português Official website". Archived from the original on 16 December 2012. Retrieved 12 December 2012.
  57. ^ "CMVM - the CMVM - Overview". Archived from the original on 31 March 2013. Retrieved 12 December 2012. CMVM
  58. ^ "Qualified Shareholding" (PDF). CMVM.
  59. ^ "Announcement" (PDF). CMVM. 28 August 2013.
  60. ^ "Manager Transactions" (PDF). CMVM.
  61. ^ "Announcement" (PDF). CMVM.
  62. ^ "Optimus, Zon merger brings potential for expansion – Dos Santos". Archived from the original on 21 October 2013. Retrieved 30 August 2013.
  63. ^ "Isabel dos Santos The strategy of the new company will be open to new geographies". Archived from the original on 21 October 2013. Retrieved 30 August 2013.
  64. ^ Isabel dos Santos comparece na AG da Zon Optimus sabado.pt. Retrieved 7 July 2018 (portuguese)
  65. ^ NOS shareholder bids for Portugal Telecom shares Reuters, 9 November 2014
  66. ^ Dos Santos launches bid for Portugal Telecom SGPS Reuters, 1 December 2014
  67. ^ BFA Announces Board Changes Bloomberg, January 2017
  68. ^ "Isabel dos Santos steps out of BPI with 80 million". E. C. O. news. 14 February 2017. Retrieved 30 November 2022.
  69. ^ Portuguese group Sonae authorised to open hypermarkets in Angola Archived 29 January 2012 at the Wayback Machine Aicep Portugal Global. Retrieved 27 December 2011
  70. ^ "Unitel Internacional assina contrato para ser segunda operadora em São Tomé e Príncipe". ANGOP.
  71. ^ "Unitel takes over control of T+ in Cape Verde".
  72. ^ "Africa Telecom & IT – Unitel to become second operator in Sao Tome & Principe". Archived from the original on 14 July 2018. Retrieved 1 April 2013.
  73. ^ "Unitel STP to start operating in Sao Tome and Principe this year". Macauhub English. 30 May 2013.
  74. ^ PÚBLICO (20 June 2015). "Forbes chega este ano a Portugal e África, pela mão de Isabel dos Santos". PÚBLICO.
  75. ^ O'Grady, Vaughan (31 October 2022). "Unitel now owned by the Angolan state". Developing Telecoms.
  76. ^ a b Scilla Alecci (19 January 2024). "Isabel dos Santos charged with 12 crimes in Angola over her dealings as Sonangol chair - ICIJ". Retrieved 7 April 2024.
  77. ^ Ramalho, Miguel (3 February 2023). "Wanted by Interpol, Relaxing in Dubai: Geolocating Isabel dos Santos' Life of Luxury". Bellingcat. Retrieved 3 February 2023.
  78. ^ "Luanda Leaks' Isabel dos Santos loses fight against $733 million asset freeze - ICIJ". 21 December 2023.
  79. ^ Isabel dos Santos made a fortune at the expense of the Angolan people, Luanda Leaks reveals. icij.org, published 19 January 2020
  80. ^ "Luanda Leaks | Aparece muerto en Portugal el gestor financiero de Isabel dos Santos". El Confidencial (in Spanish). 23 January 2020. Retrieved 23 January 2020.
  81. ^ "La Famille Dokolo : Ndona Tuluka – Nzolantima – Hanne – Manzanza – Sindika – Luzolo". Archived from the original on 5 December 2017. Retrieved 13 April 2012.
  82. ^ "Augustin Dokolo, an African entrepreneur". Archived from the original on 8 December 2017. Retrieved 14 March 2013.
  83. ^ "Congolese husband of Angola's Isabel dos Santos dies in diving accident -colleague, relatives". Reuters. 30 October 2020.
  84. ^ "Defying Angola and Interpol, Isabel dos Santos entrenches herself on Dubai waterfront - ICIJ". 14 May 2024.
  85. ^ "BBC 100 Women 2015: Who is on the list?". BBC News. 17 November 2015. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
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Media related to Isabel dos Santos at Wikimedia Commons

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