Isabel Dos Santos, the 41-year-old businesswoman who in 2013 was outed by Forbes as Africa’s first female billionaire, has spent much of her adult life strategically acquiring stakes in some of the continent’s fastest-growing companies. In the process, she now holds claim to the title of Africa’s wealthiest woman.
The first daughter of long-serving Angolan president Jose Eduardo Dos Santos, the younger Dos Santos has systematically invested in some of her native nation’s largest companies. Her 25 percent stake in Angolan telecom firm Unitel, which boasts some 9 million subscribers in the sub-Saharan African country, as well as Angolan bank Banco BIC, helped her begin amassing wealth that today totals somewhere in the neighborhood of $3.7 billion.
Recently, Dos Santos has turned her attention to Europe, investing largely in ventures in Portugal, the former colonial power from whom Angola wrested independence in 1975. Dos Santos has employed her particular brand of business savvy to acquire shares and add to her wealth. She is the biggest shareholder in Zon, a Portuguese media conglomerate. Her 28.8 percent is worth $385 million. She also owns 19.5 percent of Portuguese bank Banco BPI, worth $465 million.
Most recently, Dos Santos angled for Portuguese telecom company Portugal Telecom (PT) SGPS SA, bidding $1.5 billion through her investment company Terra Peregrin, to take over the firm. Dos Santos no doubt thought investing in another telecom firm was a wise choice, considering her outsize success with Angola’s Unitel. Eventually, Terra Peregrin withdrew the bid after the
Portuguese Securities Market Commission ruled that she needed to raise the offer price, but the setback should prove to be only temporary.
Born in Azerbaijan, where her father was studying at the time, raised in Angola and educated at Kings College London, Dos Santos is a true citizen of the world. Her recent investments and takeover attempts reflect an ambition that is limited not by regions nor national borders. At just 41, Dos Santos is still the young billionaire in the room, but that does not mean she is content to rest on her many business accomplishments. In fact, after her recent bid for Portuguese Telecom, which saw her face off with the European telecom baron Patrick Drahi, the contrary seems to be true.
Dos Santos exhibits an aggressive, fearless investment strategy, but one tempered by wisdom and realistic expectations. It’s a formula for success, as Dos Santos has proven in her dealings in Angola as well as Portugal. Her next move or investment bid is unknown at this time, but there is little doubt that she will make one, and soon.