Angolan billionaire Isabel dos Santos, who is embroiled in a huge financial scandal, has suggested that she may seek to become the country’s president.
In a BBC interview, Ms Dos Santos pointedly declined four times to rule out running for the presidency.
Her father José Eduardo dos Santos ruled Angola for 38 years. Prosecutors are seeking to recover $1bn (£760m) Ms Dos Santos and her associates are alleged to owe the state.
READ ALSO: Google Now $1Trillion Company
She has denied any wrongdoing.
Ms Dos Santos, 46, is one of the world’s richest women, with Forbes magazine estimating her fortune to be worth $2.2bn, making her the richest woman in Africa.
Her father controversially appointed her as the head of Angola’s state-owned oil firm Sonangol in 2016.
She was sacked from the post in 2017 by President Joao Lourenço, her father’s handpicked successor.
Who Is Isabel Dos Santos
- Eldest daughter of ex-President Jose Eduardo dos Santos
- Married to Congolese art collector and businessman Sindika Dokolo
- Attended all-girls boarding school in England
- Studied electrical engineering at London’s prestigious King’s College
- As 24-year-old acquired a stake in Miami Beach, a chic bar and restaurant in Luanda
- Rose to become Africa’s first female billionaire
- Made head of state-owned oil firm Sonangol in 2016, removed in 2017
- Has a stake of about 6% in Portuguese oil and gas firm Galp, worth around $830m
- Owns 42.5% of Portugal’s Eurobic bank
- Has 25% stake in Angolan mobile telecom firm Unitel
- Has 42.5% stake in Angolan bank, known as Banco BIC
