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jose eduardo dos santoslatest news & developments

Angola at a crossroads, or more of the same?

The MPLA managed to retain power in the recent elections but to win the next elections it will have to introduce economic and political reforms

(Photo by Michel BARET/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)

José Eduardo dos Santos: The president who died alone

The former Angolan president chose power and wealth over developing his country

The former Angolan autocrat, who was president from 1979 to 2017, built up the wealth of his family and that of his generals at the expense of the citizens. (Photo by MARCO LONGARI / AFP)

José Eduardo dos Santos, a legacy of kleptocracy

The Angolan autocrat, president from 1979 to 2017, built up the wealth of his family and that of his generals at the expense of the citizens

Plus ça change: Angolan President João Lourenço has not lived up to citizens’ expectations. Photo: Alexander Shcherbak/Tass/Getty Images

Angola’s president squanders his early goodwill

Angolans lose faith in João Lourenço as the economy tanks and corruption persists

Former president of Angola, José Eduardo dos Santos.

Angola’s dos Santos family empire in the firing line

Law enforcement agencies are cracking down on the high profile family of former Angolan president José Eduardo dos Santos, accused of plundering revenues from the country’s vast…

Omar al-Bashir’s 30-year dictatorship came to an end after long-running protests by Sudanese demanding democracy.

Africa’s  ‘dinosaurs’ are dying out

Countries in political transition have very little time in which to deliver socioeconomic and political change

For three months now the Kaombo Norte has been anchored off the northern coast of Angola and has recently begun to pump up crude oil secreted in the depths below.

Angola bets on largest-ever offshore oil investment

Angola was badly hit by the oil-price plunge in 2014

Former president Jose Eduardo dos Santos and his daughter Isabel in the background. (AP)

Angola: The fall of the Dos Santos clan

One year ago, the Dos Santos family handed the Angolan presidency over to João Lourenço. Now the ex-president’s son has been arrested

With a firm grip on the party and a stabilising economy, JLo’s priority will be to stimulate economic growth, create jobs, and improve government delivery. (EPA)

Lourenço’s first year: Angola’s transitional politics

João Lourenço’s first year in office has been marked by notable reforms. If ordinary Angolans are to benefit this momentum must continue

Angola’s former president Jose Eduardo dos Santos did not seek re-election in the August 2017 polls and handed the reins of power to his defence minister Lourenco. (Marco Longari/AFP)

Angola’s ex president steps down as party chief

The passing of the baton between the two men is the climax of a handover marked by barely disguised friction

Jose Eduardo dos Santos appointed his son to head Angola’s $5-billion oil-fuelled sovereign fund in 2013

Angola: Ex-president’s son planned to steal $1.5-billion

Jose Filomeno dos Santos planned to siphon off $1.5-billion when he ran Luanda’s sovereign wealth fund, government says.

Jose Filomeno dos Santos was appointed to head the $5-billion oil-fuelled sovereign fund by his father in 2013

Dos Santos’s son charged with fraud

Jose Filomeno dos Santos has been accused of the illegal transfer of $500-million when he was the head of the country’s sovereign wealth fund

A member of the SANDF takes part in a raid on a hostel in Alexandra on April 22.

The silver lining in Ali Bongo’s power grab in Gabon

The country’s constitutional changes mirror tre​nds where incumbents have tinkered with their constitutions, but change will come

Former president of Angola, José Eduardo dos Santos.

Angola’s Lourenco keeps pressure on Dos Santos cronies

Lourenco’s manoeuvering against the nepotistical vestiges of Angola’s last president began in November with the toppling of Isabel dos Santos

With a firm grip on the party and a stabilising economy, JLo’s priority will be to stimulate economic growth, create jobs, and improve government delivery. (EPA)

Angolan leader denies tensions with predecessor despite clean-up campaign

In November, within three months of taking control of Angola, Lourenco sacked dos Santos’s daughter — Africa’s richest woman

Hotspot: South Sudan remains in crisis despite a new ceasefire while rebel leader Riek Machar is still under house arrest in South Africa.

Mixed outlook for Africa in 2018

The leaders for life will face challenges. Debt levels and servicing costs will plague governments. And conflict hotspots won’t cool down

Isabel dos Santos’s fortune appears to largely be a result of decades of looting facilitated by management consultant companies and other international enablers. (Gallo)

Angola oil giant probes Isabel dos Santos graft claims

In recent weeks, several Angolan media outfits have accused dos Santos of ordering suspect transfers and payments worth tens of millions of dollars.

Yesterday’s man: Robert Mugabe

As skittles topple in Zim and Angola, is Zuma navel-gazing?

‘At times like this, the city’s charm wears thin. Durban might as well be in Mongolia. Or Zimbabwe’

João Lourenço will replace José Eduardo dos Santos who ruled  oil-rich Angola with an iron grip for 38 years.

Who is Angola’s next president João Lourenço?

Angola’s João Lourenço will be sworn in on Tuesday as the president but who is the man who ran on the ticket of the MPLA?

With a firm grip on the party and a stabilising economy, JLo’s priority will be to stimulate economic growth, create jobs, and improve government delivery. (EPA)

Daunting challenges facing Angola’s new president

Crucially though, Dos Santos will retain control over the MPLA itself until 2022 at the earliest, health permitting.