On Tuesday March 19th, 2019, media reports speculated that
the richest woman in Africa, Isabel dos
Santos, could potentially get removed as a Board Member of Angola’s Unitel.
According to the speculations, the move could be driven by
some core investors’ determination to address the corporate governance issues
the company had recently been immersed in.
Even Angola’s oil company Sonangol, which owns 25 percent
stake in Unitel SA, had in the past clamoured for a new set of board members to
administer the affairs of the company.
“THE MEETING AT UNITEL SA, WHOSE CHAIRWOMAN ISABEL DOS
SANTOS OWNS 25 PERCENT, COMES AFTER AN ARBITRATION COURT RULED THAT BRAZILIAN
TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMPANY OI SA WAS ENTITLED TO RECEIVE $654 MILLION FROM
OTHER UNITEL SHAREHOLDERS BECAUSE THEY VIOLATED SEVERAL CLAUSES OF THE
COMPANY’S SHAREHOLDERS’ AGREEMENT AND FAILED TO PAY DIVIDENDS TO OI.
SHAREHOLDERS WITH AS MUCH AS 75 PERCENT OF UNITEL ARE LIKELY
TO VOTE FOR THE REMOVAL OF DOS SANTOS, ACCORDING TO ANTONIO ESTOTE, AN
INDEPENDENT ECONOMIST AND PROFESSOR AT THE UNIVERSIDADE LUSIADA DE ANGOLA.
BESIDES OI, THE SHAREHOLDERS ARE STATE OIL COMPANY SONANGOL AND ARMY GENERAL
LEOPOLDINO DO NASCIMENTO, WHO EACH HOLD 25 PERCENT, ACCORDING TO ESTOTE.”
Unitel’s core investors voted on the matter – Yesterday, the
telecom company’s main shareholders met in Luanda and surprised speculators by
unanimously re-electing Ms Santos as the Chairwoman of the company’s Board of
Directors.
She now has another four years to possibly try and make a
difference. Note that the woman has a 25 percent stake in the leading Angolan
telco.
Isabel dos Santos was fired before – As Nairametrics
reported, the billionaire was relieved of her job as the head of Angola’s state
oil company, Sonangol, back in 2017. Her firing followed the new Angolan
President’s determination to fire Santos and rid the country of the corruption
that pervaded the system while her, Jose Eduardo dos Santo, ruled for 37 years.
