Critics of Angola’s former President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, who died on Friday, accused him of robbing the country of much of its vast oil wealth to enrich himself and his family.
Dos Santos, who resigned in 2017 after 38 years of iron rule, appointed family members to key economic positions during his presidency.
Banking, telecoms, media, and most notably oil were among the industries that felt the far-reaching impact of the Dos Santos spawn.
He “privatised the state to help his family and a handful of allies,” said investigative journalist Rafael Marques de Morais, who was highly critical of the alleged looting of Dos Santos.
Here is a look back at the key data of the “family company”:
– Isabel, the daughter –
Known derisively as “the Princess,” 49-year-old Isabel was the public face of the Dos Santos business empire.
Her father appointed her to head state-owned oil giant Sonangol, but she was fired shortly after his successor, Joao Lourenco, took office.
Isabel dos Santos has described herself as an “entrepreneur” on her Twitter account, and Forbes magazine once ranked her as Africa’s richest woman.
She estimated her personal fortune at up to $3.5 billion.
She worked in the telecommunications sector and controlled Unitel, Angola’s leading mobile operator, which she left in 2020.
She also held shares in Portuguese media giant NOS, was heavily invested in the banking sector and sat on the boards of Banco de Fomento Angola, Banco BIC – as well as its Portuguese subsidiary – and market leader BFA.
And with her now-deceased husband Sindika Dokolo, she owned Swiss luxury jeweler De Grisogono, which went bankrupt in 2020.
But that business empire has largely been dismantled since a 2020 ICIJ investigation into the shady origins of her fortune.
She is under investigation for a long list of crimes in Angola, including mismanagement, embezzlement and money laundering during her tenure as head of state oil giant Sonangol.
She has vehemently denied allegations of a politically motivated “witch hunt” against her.
Last year, she was asked to divest a stake in Portuguese energy company Galp, valued at an estimated $500 million
– Jose Filomeno, the son –
In 2013, Jose Filomeno de Sousa dos Santos, nicknamed Zenu, was appointed head of a sovereign wealth fund by his father. At 35, Filomeno controlled the $5 billion fund.
Six years later he was arrested for fraud, money laundering and influencer activities. He was found guilty of attempting to embezzle up to $1.5 billion from the sovereign wealth fund he oversaw from 2013 to 2018.
In 2020, he was jailed for five years, becoming one of the first members of the former presidential family to be prosecuted as part of an anti-graft campaign led by Lourenco since he took office in 2017.
– ‘Tchize’, the other daughter –
Married to a Portuguese businessman, Welwitschia dos Santos was a leading figure in the Angolan media landscape.
Now in her mid-40s, she has held various positions at TPA, a public broadcaster, managing two tabloid-style print titles.
Less well known than her half-sister Isabel, Welwitschia – whose nickname is ‘Tchize’ – ran one of Angola’s leading multimedia and advertising agencies.
She was also the first Angolan woman to manage a major football club after taking the reins at Benfica de Luanda.
After her brother’s conviction, she accused Lourenco of wrongfully targeting the dos Santos family for political reasons.
“Lurenco (uses) the children to harm the politically stronger father,” she told the AFP news agency.
– Ana Paula, the woman –
Ana Paula, a former stewardess who became Jose Eduardo dos Santos’ second wife and was involved in several diamond prospecting activities, according to local media.
According to Angola’s monthly business journal Expensao, Ana Paula Cristovao Lemos also directly owned 5 percent of Sol Bank, in addition to the 10 percent she had in the company through her endowment.
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