She’s the subject of a criminal investigation into misappropriation of funds when she was chief executive of Angola’s state-owned oil company Sonangol.

Isabel Dos Santos was given the Sonangol job by her father Jose Eduardo Dos Santos when he was President of Angola.

Exploiting  that special relationship made her Africa’s richest woman with a fortune of $2,2- billion.

Angola’s seeking to recoup money from her.

Dos Santos, who lives in London, says she’s the victim of a politically motivated witch hunt.

Dozens of personal and corporate bank accounts she hold in Portugal have been seized by Lisbon authorities along with those of her husband Sandika Dokolo.

The post Portugal freezes bank accounts of Isabel Dos Santos appeared first on Jean-Jacques Cornish.

To get the oldest daughter of former President Josè Eduardo Dos Santos into the dock, Angolan authorities will have to extradite her from London.

Former President Josè Eduardo Dos Santos, dubbed by the watchdog group Transparency International as one of the most corrupt leaders on the planet, put his daughter in charge of Angola’s state-owned oil company Sonangol in 2016. 

She was sacked a year later by her father’s successor Joao Lourenco.

Thousands of  documents allegedly showing how she crookedly  accumulated more than two billion dollars of Angolan public money have been leaked to the media – spurring the corruption charges.

The post Isabel Dos Santos charged with fraud appeared first on Jean-Jacques Cornish.

The post Leaked documents show how Isabel Dos Santos ripped off the Angolan people appeared first on Jean-Jacques Cornish.

Isabel Dos Santos, living in exile in Portugal, insists she is a scapegoat in a bigger scheme of things.

Spokesman for the Angolan Attorney General Alvaro Joao says the prosecution hasn’t seized the assets abroad of Isabel Dos Santos but will not hesitate to do this if necessary.

Joao says the case being built against the former president’s daughter is civil one designed to recoup debts  owed to the state.

Criminal corruption  charges have not been laid.

Isabel can opt to repay the debts now and avoid further action or she can choose to let the court process take its course.

The post Isabel Dos Santos faces civil action rather than criminal charges appeared first on Jean-Jacques Cornish.

$3billion of this comes from the country’s sovereign wealth fund.

ends intro

Angolan Justice Minister Francisco Queiroz did not give much detail when he made this disclosure to a conference in Abu Dhabi other than to say the stolen money had been siphoned off at home and abroad by corruption and money laundering.

Since becoming President in 2017, Joao Lourenco has sought to stop the drain of public money into the pockets of his predecessor Jose Eduardo Dos Santos and his family.

The former President’s son Jose Filomeno is on trial for a $500 million payment into a London bank account from the sovereign wealth fund he managed.

Lourenco has also sacked Dos Santos’ daughter Isabel – Africa’s richest woman – as head of country’s state oil company.

The post Angola recovers $5 billion in stolen public money appeared first on Jean-Jacques Cornish.

It’s a dramatic move away from the moves made by his predecessor Jose Eduardo dos Santos to retain control of the levers of Angola’s economic wealth.

President Joao Lourenco has his work cut out meeting his promise to clear up corruption in his oil-rich country.

Transparency International lists Angola as the most corrupt country on the planet.

That was during the more than three-decade rule of Jose Eduardo dos Santos.

His daughter became Africa’s richest woman and expected to continue milking the country as its oil chief.

Last week papers leaked from an international legal firm showed how Dos Santos’ son Jose Filomeno paid tens of millions of dollars to friend he appointed to manage the country’s sovereign wealth fund.

The post Isabel dos Santos sacked as Angola’s oil chief appeared first on Jean-Jacques Cornish.

Joao Lourenco swore to devote himself to his role as president.

Jose Eduardo Dos Santos, who became president in 1979, was at today’s ceremony attended by dozens of African leaders including President Jacob Zuma.

He’s in poor health which led to his surprising retirement.

The ruling MPLA won 61% of the vote in last month’s election.

The drop in support is attributed to the economic crisis caused by falling oil prices.

Lourenco has his work cut out  ensuring more of the wealth from being Africa’s second largest oil producer trickles down to the people,  more than half of of whom live in abject poverty.

The post Angola’s news president sworn in appeared first on Jean-Jacques Cornish.

He’s one of 26 invited heads of state, a dozen of whom have already arrived.

Angola’s foreign affairs department says Russian President Vladimir Putin, British premier Theresa May, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Egyptian leader Abdelfatah El Sisi have been to the inauguration …

…that will bring Luanda to a stop today.

A raft of African leaders have already arrived in Angola.

Rwandan President Paul Kagame touched down shortly before his South Africa  counterpart Jacob Zuma last night.

Zuma’s expressed the desire to have relations established during the liberation struggles in both countries translate into significant bilateral trade and investment.

In addition to meeting with President Joao Lourenco, Zumas will see outgoing president Jose Eduardo Dos Santos and have bilateral meetings with a number of African peers.

The post Leaders flying in for Angola’s presidential inauguration appeared first on Jean-Jacques Cornish.

Joao Lourenco has played many senior roles in the ruling MPLA including propaganda chief, governor of several provinces and defence minister.

Joao Lourenco made the mistake in 2003 of declaring his candidacy for the MPLA leadership when  President Jose Eduardo Dos Santos said he wanted to stand down.

In fact the president was trying to get his opponents to reveal themselves.

It took Lourenco a decade to recover from that gaffe.

Many say that even now he is still in the debt of  Dos Santos who plans to play a leadership role in the MPLA to retain his considerable wealth.

The post Lourenco to succeed Dos Santos as Angola’s President tomorrow appeared first on Jean-Jacques Cornish.

Aaron Motsoaledi was speaking at a World Health Organization conference at Zimbabwe’s Victoria Falls where the host 93-year-old President Robert Mugabe frequently travels visits eye specialists in  Singapore.

ends intro

Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi says African leaders travel abroad for medical attention because they are not confident of receiving adequate treatment at home.

Because they can afford to do this, they are not motivated to provide the resources to improve domestic medical services and infrastructure.

He says Africa’s the only continent where leaders travel abroad for health reasons.

They should be ashamed of this and should be promoting their own hospitals, clinics and specialist doctors.

This year, Nigeria’s Muhamadu Buhari has spent no less than five months in British hospitals. He still has not revealed to his people what ails him.

Last year, Buhari rounded on wealthy compatriots  going to European, Asian or American hospitals, dismissing them as health tourists.

Outgoing Angola President Jose Eduardo Dos Santos has fallen into this category.

So have Presidents Patrice Talon of Benin and Abdelaziz Bouteflika of Algeria.

Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe officially opened the conference addressed by Motsoaledi.

He was not at the gathering at Victoria Falls when the South African minister spoke.

The post South African minister lashes African health tourists appeared first on Jean-Jacques Cornish.