Wikipedia Commons /    Isabel dos Santos, daughter of former Angola president José Eduardo dos Santos

By Gary Raynaldo   DIPLOMATIC  TIMES

Angolan businesswoman Isabel dos Santos on Tuesday announced that she is to step down from the board of Unitel, the country’s largest telecommunications operator, in which she has a 25% stake through Vidatel, which she controls, Portugal’s news agency Lusa reported.   “After 20 years dedicated to the creation, development and success of Unitel, I chose to leave the position of member of the company’s board of directors,” dos Santos, who holds a 25% stake in Unitel, said in a statement cited by Lusa.  Dos Santos’ decision to leave her position at Unitel, which dominates Angola’s telecoms market, is related to a “climate of permanent conflict” among the company’s board of directors, she said in the same statement.  In January,  the Angolan government of  President Joao Lourenço ordered the assets and banks account of Isabel dos Santos to be frozen in Angola then in Portugal.   Dos Santos was crowned the richest woman in Africa. (Forbes reports she’s estimated to have a fortune of $2.2 billion)  Dos Santos, daughter of former Angola president José Eduardo dos Santos, called for her assets to be unfrozen, and accused the  Angolan justice system of using a forged passport in the case that led to the freezing of her money. Dos Santos has been  charged with  money laundering, influence peddling, and other financial crimes stemming during the time she was head of the state’s  petroleum company Sonangol.  Angola is seeking to reclaim $1 billion that Isabel dos Santos and her associates allegedly owe  as part of an anti-corruption drive launched by her father’s successor has targeted the former first family’s assets.