Angola has frozen the assets of Isabel dos Santos, the billionaire daughter of the country’s previous leader, in a sign that President João Lourenço is taking a tougher line against the former first family.
Since ending José Eduardo dos Santos’ nearly 40-year grip on power in 2017, Lourenço has been trying to erase the influence of his predecessor and reform sub-Saharan Africa’s third-largest economy. But Lourenço is under pressure as the country continues to contract under his watch.
Isabel dos Santos said the asset freeze was “politically motivated” and that the case against her had been held in total secrecy.
“The judgment contains statements which are completely untrue,” she said in a statement. “It would have been easy to dismantle them in an open court.” She said she would use “all the instruments of Angolan and international law … to fight this order”.
The move against her came as the ex-president’s son, José Filomeno de Sousa, faces corruption charges, accused of helping transfer $500 million from the sovereign wealth fund. Called “Africa’s wealthiest woman”, Isabel dos Santos amassed a fortune estimated at more than $2 billion through stakes in Angolan companies including banks and the telecoms firm Unitel, earning her the nickname “the Princess”.
She chaired the state oil company Sonangol before being sacked by Lourenço months after he came to power.