Dos Santos’ daughter eyes Angolan presidency despite asset freeze

Isabelle dos Santos, the billionaire daughter of former President José Eduardo dos Santos, says she would consider running for president in Angola’s 2022 elections.

When asked on Wednesday whether she would be interested in succeeding her father as president, Ms dos Santos told Portuguese TV channel RTP “it's possible... I will do everything I need to do to defend and serve my country”. 

This comes despite the fact that dos Santos’ assets in Angola have been frozen, amid accusations of her diverting more than a billion dollars of state money. Ms dos Santos denies these claims.

In December, an Angolan court ordered the seizure of assets and bank accounts belonging to dos Santos, as well as those of her husband Sindika Dokolo and associate Mario Leite da Silva. The three are accused of stealing over $1bn from state oil company Sonangol and official diamond trader Sodiam into a firm where they held stakes.

During his time in office, José Eduardo dos Santos appointed his daughter head of Sonangol. She has since amassed a fortune of US$ 2.1 billion and is widely regarded as Africa’s richest woman. 

In the same interview, Ms dos Santos denied the accusations against her, calling them a politically motivated attack on her family. 

"We cannot use corruption, or the supposed fight against corruption, in a selective way to neutralise who we think could be future political candidates... It’s about the fight for power," she said.

Photo credit: Reuters