Angola oil company’s new chair: President’s daughter, richest African woman

Africa’s entrepreneurial politicians often look to Angola for inspiration. The oil-rich country’s ruling family makes no pretences at equality in the notionally socialist state – for them, holding political power means owning the national resources. Meritocracy is an equally foreign concept. So last week’s appointment of the President-for-Life’s daughter as chairman of the State’s oil company shouldn’t surprise anyone. Neither should the fact it came immediately after 73 year old President Dos Santos fired the entire board of Sonangol, spun as a decision to “restructure the business so it runs more efficiently”. The only surprise is how Angolans keep shrugging their shoulders at the blatant plundering of national assets by a President who has used his 37 years in office to build one of the world’s greatest financial empires. When South Africans wonder at the value of their Constitution, they need only reflect on an alternative future like the one offered by Dos Santos. Or Robert Mugabe’s Zimbabwe. – Alec Hogg  

By Candido Mendes and Amogelang Mbatha

José_Eduardo_dos_Santos_Angola
Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos.

(Bloomberg) — Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos appointed his daughter and Africa’s richest woman, Isabel, as chairwoman of the state oil company, tightening his family’s control over sub-Saharan Africa’s third-biggest economy.

Dos Santos, 73, fired Sonangol’s entire board and replaced it with new executives as part of a plan to restructure the business so it runs more efficiently, he said in an e-mailed statement on Thursday. Paulino Fernando de Carvalho Geronimo was appointed chief executive officer, it said. Angola vies with Nigeria as Africa’s biggest oil producer and also produces diamonds.

Jose Eduardo dos Santos, who has ruled the country since 1979, has already appointed one of his sons to head the state sovereign wealth fund and his family is now taking control of an industry that accounts for about two-thirds of state revenue at a time when the oil price has fallen. That’s prompted his government to seek funding from the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and China.

Reducing Costs

“It’s just how the Angolan government tends to operate when it comes to base issues like strategic oil and the sovereign wealth fund,”  Gary van Staden, an analyst at NKC African Economics in Paarl, near Cape Town, said by phone Friday. “President dos Santos tends to make sure that the people in charge of those are very close to him.”

The new team aims to make Sonangol more competitive internationally by reducing costs, Isabel dos Santos said in an e-mailed statement. The company will seek to improve profitability and the dividends it pays to the state, she said.

The board plans to “ensure transparency” in the company’s management and apply global corporate-governance standards and will improve relations with suppliers and other partners, she said.

“Isabel’s appointment demonstrates the strategic importance of these reforms for the presidency and that the president wanted someone he fully trusted to lead the reforms,” Alex Vines, head of the Africa Program at the Chatham House research group in London, said in e-mailed comments.

Boston Consulting Group, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Vieira de Almeida & Associados have been picked to advise the board on the execution of its strategy, Isabel dos Santos said.

“In this day and age, I don’t think leaders in countries like Angola should be appointing their children to head key parts of the economy and key parts of government,” Van Staden said. “I think it will be perceived as very negative and I think there will be some fallout for them from this.”

GoHighLevel
gohighlevel gohighlevel login gohighlevel pricing gohighlevel crm gohighlevel api gohighlevel support gohighlevel review gohighlevel logo what is gohighlevel gohighlevel affiliate gohighlevel integrations gohighlevel features gohighlevel app gohighlevel reviews gohighlevel training gohighlevel snapshots gohighlevel zapier app gohighlevel gohighlevel alternatives Agency Arcade, About Us - Agency Arcade, Contact Us - Agency Arcade, Our Services - Agency Arcade gohighlevel pricegohighlevel pricing guidegohighlevel api gohighlevel officialgohighlevel plansgohighlevel Funnelsgohighlevel Free Trialgohighlevel SAASgohighlevel Websitesgohighlevel Experts