Angola Princess: Where Does She Reside?

Isabel dos Santos, also known as the Princess of Angola, is an Angolan businesswoman and the eldest child of Angola's former president, José Eduardo dos Santos. She was born in Baku, Azerbaijan, and has lived in various places, including Kent, London, and Luanda, Angola. Dos Santos has been under investigation for corruption and currently resides in the United Arab Emirates.

Isabel dos Santos, the 'Angola Princess', is a citizen of Russia and Angola

Isabel dos Santos, the eldest child of Angola's former President José Eduardo dos Santos, is a citizen of Russia and Angola. Dubbed the "Angola Princess", she was born in Baku, Azerbaijan, where her father was studying at the time. Dos Santos has been recognised as one of the BBC's 100 women of 2015. She has a plethora of business interests in Angola and Portugal, including a 25% stake in Angola's biggest mobile phone network, Unitel, and a 7% stake in Portuguese oil and gas firm, Galp Energia. Forbes recognised her as Africa's first female billionaire in 2013, and she is currently estimated to be worth $3.3 billion, making her Angola's richest person.

Dos Santos has been embroiled in controversy, with Forbes dropping her from its list in January 2021 after the freezing of her assets in Angola, Portugal, and the Netherlands. She has been under investigation for corruption, with the Angolan government attempting to prosecute her since 2018. The US State Department barred her and her immediate family from entering the United States in December 2021, citing "significant corruption by misappropriating public funds for her personal benefit". Interpol issued a warrant for her arrest in November 2022, and in December 2023, she lost a legal battle in London's High Court, resulting in a freeze on up to £580 million ($733 million) of her assets.

Despite the controversies, Dos Santos has been praised for her business acumen. She started her entrepreneurial journey at a young age, selling chicken eggs at six. She has emphasised that her fortune is the result of hard work and her ability to spot business opportunities. Dos Santos has a substantial presence in the telecoms industry, with holdings in Trans Africa Investment Services, Unitel International Holdings B.V., and Santoro Finance. She also has investments in the energy and oil sector, retail, and finance.

Isabel dos Santos was born in Baku, Azerbaijan, in 1973

Isabel dos Santos, known as the "Princess of Angola", was born in Baku, Azerbaijan, in 1973. Baku was then a Soviet republic, and dos Santos' father, José Eduardo dos Santos, was studying there at the time. Her mother, Tatiana Kukanova, was Russian, and her father's parents were from São Tomé and Príncipe.

Dos Santos has always been keen to emphasise that her fortune is the result of hard work and business acumen. She started selling chicken eggs at the age of six and later studied electrical engineering at King's College in London. She has a plethora of business interests in Angola and Portugal, including a 25% stake in Angola's biggest mobile phone network, Unitel, and a 7% stake in Portuguese oil and gas firm, Galp Energia. Forbes recognised her as Africa's first female billionaire in 2013, and she is currently estimated to be worth $3.3 billion, making her Angola's richest person.

In 2016, dos Santos was appointed as chair of Sonangol, the Angolan state oil company. However, she was fired from this position in 2017 by the new Angolan President, João Lourenço, just two months after he was sworn into office. Since 2018, the Angolan government has been trying to prosecute dos Santos for corruption, and in 2019, a court ordered the freezing of her Angolan bank accounts and the seizure of her stake in local companies, including Unitel and Banco de Fomento Angola. In 2020, she was placed under investigation in Portugal and has since taken on the United Arab Emirates as her official country of residence. In 2021, the US State Department barred dos Santos and her immediate family from entering the United States, citing "significant corruption by misappropriating public funds for her personal benefit".

Isabel dos Santos was educated in the UK and studied electrical engineering at King's College London

Isabel dos Santos, the self-proclaimed "Angola princess", is the daughter of Angola's former president, Jose Eduardo Dos Santos. She is Africa's first female billionaire and the continent's richest woman, with a net worth of $2.2 billion. Dos Santos was born in Baku, Azerbaijan, and spent her younger years in an all-girls boarding school in Kent, UK. After graduating from high school, she went on to study electrical engineering at King's College London.

Dos Santos has always been a hard-working and ambitious individual. She started her first business venture at the age of six, selling chicken eggs. This entrepreneurial spirit continued into her adult years, as she expanded her reach across various industries, including telecommunications, cement, diamond, and banking. Dos Santos's business empire is vast, and she has been dubbed a talented investor with an eye for stocks with high potential.

Her first foray into the business world in Angola was through a beach bar on the Ilha de Luanda. This investment proved to be a wise one, as the area is now one of the most fashionable and valuable locations on the western coast of Africa. Dos Santos's business acumen and strong work ethic have sparked many great opportunities for her. She has held several management positions throughout her career, including positions in the telecommunications and oil industries.

Despite her success, Dos Santos has faced scrutiny and criticism for her wealth. Some critics allege that her fortune is a result of nepotistic corruption, given her father's position as president. However, Dos Santos refutes these claims, attributing her success to hard work and business acumen. She has also faced legal troubles, with Angolan prosecutors launching a criminal investigation into her actions while chairing the state oil company, Sonangol.

Dos Santos's residence has been a topic of discussion, with reports suggesting she is relocating from London to a gated community in Dubai's Jumeirah Bay. She has not been to Angola since 2018 and claims that the country is unsafe due to high crime rates and insecurity.

Isabel dos Santos has been accused of corruption and is currently living in Dubai

Isabel dos Santos, known as the "Princess of Angola", is currently living in Dubai. She is the eldest child of Angola's former president, José Eduardo dos Santos, who ruled the country from 1979 to 2017. Isabel dos Santos has been accused of corruption and is under investigation by multiple countries, including Angola, Portugal, the United States, and the United Kingdom.

Dos Santos has a variety of business interests in Angola and Portugal, particularly in the telecommunications, media, retail, finance, and energy sectors. She has been involved with companies such as Trans Africa Investment Services, Unitel International Holdings B.V., Santoro Finance, and Esperaza Holding B.V. In 2016, her father appointed her as the chair of Sonangol, the Angolan state oil company. This appointment was widely criticised due to her close relationship with the former president.

In 2019, the Luanda Provincial Court ordered the freezing of dos Santos's Angolan bank accounts and the seizure of her stake in local companies. The Angolan government has been trying to prosecute her for corruption, alleging that her actions may have contributed to Angola's ongoing recession. The government has also initiated legal proceedings to confiscate her assets in Portugal.

In December 2021, the US State Department barred Dos Santos and her immediate family from entering the United States, citing significant corruption and the misappropriation of public funds for personal gain. Dos Santos was once considered Africa's richest woman, with a net worth exceeding US$2 billion. However, following the freezing of her assets, she was dropped from the Forbes list of the richest people in Africa in 2021.

In November 2022, Interpol issued an arrest warrant for Isabel dos Santos, and in December 2023, she lost a legal battle in London's High Court, resulting in a freeze on up to £580 million ($733 million) of her assets. The Angolan high court has accused her of using offshore companies, fraudulent invoices, forged documents, and exorbitant salary raises to illegally pocket millions.

Dos Santos has denied the allegations against her, describing herself as an "independent businesswoman and private investor" whose investments are transparent and made through reputable entities. She has assumed the United Arab Emirates as her official country of residence and continues to maintain property in Dubai.

Angola is a country in southwest Africa with a population of around 37.2 million

Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country in southwest Africa with a population of around 37.2 million. It is the second-largest Lusophone (Portuguese-speaking) country in both total area and population and is the seventh-largest country in Africa.

Angola has been inhabited since the Paleolithic Age and was formed as a nation-state from the Kingdom of Kongo and other Kikongo-speaking kingdoms in the 14th century. The Kingdom of Kongo became extremely wealthy and powerful through its involvement in the Atlantic slave trade with the Portuguese Empire.

Angola achieved independence in 1975 as a one-party Republic, but competing movements continued to struggle for power, leading to a devastating civil war. The civil war ended in 2002, and Angola has since emerged as a relatively stable constitutional republic.

Angola has vast mineral and petroleum reserves, and its economy is among the fastest-growing in the world. However, economic growth is highly uneven, and most of the nation's wealth is concentrated in a disproportionately small part of the population. Angola's economy is heavily dependent on the oil sector, which has led to high levels of poverty and inequality.

Angola is a multicultural and multiethnic country, with its culture reflecting centuries of Portuguese influence, including the predominance of the Portuguese language and the Catholic Church, alongside a variety of indigenous customs and traditions.

Angola's capital and most populous city is Luanda, and the country has a total land area of 1,246,700 square kilometres. It is bordered by Namibia to the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north and northeast, Zambia to the east, and the South Atlantic Ocean to the west.

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