Isabel Dos Santos, 40, is the only billionaire in Africa and the youngest business woman on the continent. And most importantly, the daughter of Angola’s President Jose Eduardo Dos Santos.
Isabel Dos Santos studied engineering at King’s College, in London, before she started her first business when she was just 24 years old. The first business that she invested in was a restaurant called Miami Beach, according to Daily Mail.
It didn’t take too long for Isabel Dos Santos to acquire significant stakes in strategic industries in Angola: banks, cement, diamonds and telecom businesses. More than half of her assets are held in Portuguese companies listed on the stock market, which gives her international credibility.
Earlier this year, the Daily Mail noted that the richest woman in Africa owned 19.5% stake in BPI Bank, one of the largest banks in Portugal, a share estimated at $465 million. Also, Dos Santos has a 25% stake in Angolan bank BIC, valued at $160 million.
Last year, Isabel Dos Santos has increased her stake in the largest media company in Portugal, ZON Multimedia, from 4.9% to 28.8%, which in January was worth approximately $385 million. She also owns 25% stake in Unitel, one of the largest telecom operators in Angola.
But how was she able to make this huge fortune? First, she is the eldest daughter of Angola’s President Jose Eduardo Dos Santos. Then she managed to make these major investments either by taking over a “piece” of a company that wanted to do business in Angola, or through her father who eased the way for her.
She put his hand on the diamond business. Angola is the fourth largest producer of diamonds in the world. It sells $1 billion per year precious stones found in mines north east of the country. Their exclusive concessionaire is the state company Endiama. In 1999, President Dos Santos has pushed Endiama to form a partnership with three companies in Israel for the sale of diamonds. Behind the transaction would have been Russian arms trafficker Arkadi Gaydamak, the former confidant of President Dos Santos during the civil war of 1992-2002. The new company will be called Ascorp. Gaydamak and the Israeli companies have 24.5% of the shares, and the government 51%. The other shareholder? Surprise! Isabel dos Santos, with a 24.5% stake through an investment company in Gibraltar, Trans Africa Investment Services, according to TAIS annual report.
There followed businesses in cement, telecom and banking.
This is the way President of Angola manages to pull money out of the country. If the 71-year-old José Eduardo dos Santos is removed from the helm, he can live well for the rest of his life even without government money. But if he dies while he was in office, Isabel Dos Santos keeps the money. She can decide, if generous, to share the wealth with her brothers. Or not.
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