Isabel dos Santos is an Angolan engineer, investor, and entrepreneur. She is always involved in investments so Forbes declared her as one of the richest and most powerful women in Africa. She is the first Africa female US Dollar billionaire and the richest woman in Africa with assets and stakes in various businesses in Angola, Portugal, and Europe. She is also recognized as the first daughter of Angolan President Jose Eduardo Dos Santos who governed the country from 1979 to 2017.
Networth of Isabel Dos Santos
According to the latest record, her NetWorth is estimated at 1.6 billion USD.
Isabel Personal Life
Isabel got married to Sindika Dokola in 2002 in Luanda and they are and blessed with three children. Sindika Dokola is a Congolese businessman and art collector and the son of a Kinshasa business magnate. He has the greatest collection of African art in the world. Isabel and Sindika met during their studies at King’s College in London. Her wedding was a multi-million event. According to news, more than $4 million was used on the ceremony, which included a special choir that was invited from Belgium, and some of the chartered planes from France to bring eateries. More than 800 guests attended the wedding which included relatives, friends, and a number of African leaders too.
Isabel Dos Santos Professional Life
At the age of 24 when she completed her graduation, she inaugurated a restaurant by the name of Miami Beach. In Luanda Island, it was one of the first beach restaurants and night clubs. This was just a start, and Isabel had passed so quick since then. At current time, she is the board member of several companies in Portugal and Angola, and holds a large number of stakes in prosperous businesses, which include a cable TV service provider and also a bank.
Isabel also possesses 19.5% share in Banco BPI that is the one of the biggest banks in Portugal with an approximated worth of $465 million. She also holds 25% stake in Banco BIC, with worth of more than $160 million. Earlier, she had 4.9% share in ZON Multimedia, the biggest cable TV service provider in Portugal. But recently, she extended her share to 28.8%. These stakes individual bring her net worth to above $1 billion, and Isabel also holds 25% share in Unitel which is one of the largest mobile phone networks in the country, which solely creates a billion in her net worth.
Earlier in her profession, Isabel had also served for a recycling company from Germany, and then moved ahead to begin a truck business. After the growth of walkie-talkie, she was interested in the area of telecommunications. She had also served for Urbana 2000 as an engineer project manager. With growing interests in business, she created many holdings over time, and did important investments in large enterprises.
Her current positions include Unitel, Santoro Finance, Condis, Esperanza and many others. Publico, a Portuguese newspaper, named Isabel in 2007 as ‘good businesswoman, very dynamic and intelligent, who’s also professional and friendly’. A British newspaper, Financial Times also penned about her in 2013, that ‘even some critics acknowledge Isabel dos Santos’s independent prowess as a businesswoman’.
Isabel Dos Santos Positions
For longer than 2 decades, Isabel secured management positions in numerous companies listed on European Stock exchanges. In 2016, her father selected her as the chairwoman of Sonangol, the Angolan state oil company. But João Lourenço, the new Angolan President removed her on his assumption to office in 2017. However, she still possesses the position in the following companies;
- Chairman of the Board of Director, Unitel
- Board member and shareholder at Nos SGPS (formerly Zon)
- Founding Member and Shareholder, Bianco BIC and
- Member of Board, Bank EuroBic and Efacec
- Board Member and Shareholder, Bianco BPI
- Founder, digital satellite Tv Operator, Zap now Angola’s number one TV distribution company
- Chairwoman, Angolan Red Cross
Facts About Isabel Dos Santos
- Isabel is the Africa First Female US Dollar Billionaire according to Forbes, 2013
- Isabel is the one of the 100 most influential women in the world according to BBC, 2015
- 1513 Billionaire in the World,
- According to Forbes 2020, Isabel is the 13 Africa’s Billionaires
- According to Forbes 2018, Isabel is the 74 Power Women 2017
- In 2020 Isabel received Prestigious Global Financial Award.
Isabel Dos Santos Quotes
- I think there’s lots of people with family connections but who are actually nowhere. If you’re hard-working and determined, you will make it, and that’s the bottom line. I don’t believe in an easy way through.
- I’ve had business sense since I was very young. I sold chicken eggs when I was six.
- I’m not involved in politics, and I’ve never had any political role. I’ve never been in office. I’ve never taken any public administrative jobs.
- It’s very difficult, I would imagine, to distinguish father and daughter. And maybe some of it comes as I’m doing my thing and my father being a very strong political African figure for so many years. Whatever he does is almost like some kind of cloud on top.
- I work all the time. Seven days a week.
- If you do something that’s going to get somebody a job, then they’ll be able to pay for their kid’s school, and then their kid is going to be a doctor, and then that doctor is going to probably help who knows how many other people, so it’s very motivating. Much more fun than going to the beach.
- Creating opportunities and employment for women means betting on the progress of the communities themselves. When they thrive, women invest their income in the family, health and education. I value this as a sense of duty, commitment, and dedication. The impact that women create around them is powerful and transformative.
- Leverage your pre-existing talents and knowledge. If you’re going into a field that you know or have past experience with then you have a competitive edge.
- Be willing to assess yourself and determine exactly what it is that you’re capable of doing best. If you have weaknesses in certain areas, develop them into strengths.
- I believe that we must start giving the prominence that girls truly deserve, because, one day they will be mothers and they will be the education book for their children.
We hope the biography of Isabel Dos Santos is a good inspiration for all those new entrepreneurs who are going to set their feet on entrepreneurship and a good motivation for the women as well.