Securing sanctions on kleptocrat Isabel dos Santos and two of her cronies

Situation

Under former leader President José Eduardo dos Santos, Angola has been beset by corruption for decades. Despite Angola enjoying significant natural resources, including oil and diamonds, Angolans saw little development under dos Santos; whilst he and his family amassed enormous fortunes. With the chances of domestic accountability for this corruption slim, ILP helped Angolan civil society ensure that the dos Santos family, including dos Santos’ daughter Isabel (often referred to as “Africa’s richest woman”) could not enjoy the benefit of her ill-gotten gains, reported to be at least £350 million.

ILP’s Action

ILP worked closely with Angolan civil society to combat the systemic corruption that has long hindered Angola, including the delivery of expert training on potential anti-corruption tools. Working in coalition with local and UK based partners, ILP assisted in drafting a submission to the UK Foreign Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), setting out the basis for a sanctions designation under the UK’s Global Anti-Corruption Sanctions regime.

Impact

ILP’s support in filing a submission to the UK FCDO resulted in the UK’s announcement of sanctions on Isabel dos Santos and two of her key enablers in November 2024. Sanctions send a clear message that corrupt individuals and their enablers cannot use the UK as a safe harbour to stash their corrupt funds, and provide a level of accountability for the Angolan people for decades of corrosive corruption. As an immediate effect of the sanctions designation, dos Santos is unable to travel to the UK, and her UK assets are frozen. This will also restrict her access to professional services, including banking and real estate agencies.