Isabel dos Santos — Business Insider
Isabel dos Santos
She is Africa’s richest woman and the oldest daughter of Angola’s former president, Jose Eduardo dos Santos. She has built a vast empire in the country’s capital, Luanda with businesses ranging from banks, telecommunications, to sports and satellite TV.
With a net worth of $2.7 billion, Africa’s richest woman also owns Candando, the country’s first supermarket and has stakes in BIC and BFA banks and in the cement company Nova Cimangola.
Her father made her head of Sonangol, Angola’s state oil firm, in June 2016, but Angola’s new president removed her from that role in November 2017.
The origin of her fortune has over the years been investigated by Angolan journalist Rafael Marques who said that her father, Jose Eduardo dos Santos, played a critical role in the construction of her empire.
“Her interest in Luanda, as in other [businesses] related to the Angolan state, is to find easy ways to give her financial responsibility over big contracts through presidential decrees”, Marques recently told DW’s Portuguese for Africa service.
Isabel has since denied such claims, insisting that she is an independent businesswoman and a private investor representing solely her own interests.
