Johannesburg (AFP)
Angolan billionaire Isabel dos Santos, the target of a vast corruption investigation, resigned from the board of directors of Angola's main mobile operator Unitel on Tuesday.
Described by Forbes Magazine as Africa's richest woman, Ms. Dos Santos is accused of stealing some $ 5 billion from public companies in the West African oil state during her nearly 40 years in power (1979-2017) by his father Jose Eduardo dos Santos
It holds 25% of Unitel's capital, which largely dominates the Angolan market (nearly 80%).
"After 20 years dedicated to the creation, development and success of Unitel, I decide to resign from my position as a member of the board of directors of the company," she said in a statement Tuesday.
Ms. Dos Santos, 47, said she was leaving because it is "counterproductive and irresponsible to admit a climate of permanent conflict and systematic politicization of administrators".
Her assets - bank accounts and assets in a host of Angolan companies - were frozen by Angolan justice last December as part of a vast anti-corruption operation launched by the Angolan authorities and "several civil and criminal proceedings" opened against her, according to the parquet.
A month later, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) published an investigation, the "Luanda Leaks", which accuses it on the basis of pirated documents of having "siphoned off the country's coffers".
Portugal, a former colonial occupier, has also frozen the assets of Ms. Dos Santos on its territory, where she had invested in banking and telecommunications.
She denied the charges, but her case for the release of her assets was dismissed in June.
Since taking over from Jose Eduardo dos Santos at the head of Angola in September 2017, President Joao Lourenço has sacked all those close to his predecessor in the name of the fight against corruption.
© 2020 AFP