Angolan billionaire Isabel dos Santos, who is embroiled in a huge financial scandal, has suggested that she may seek to become the country’s president.
In a BBC interview, Ms Dos Santos pointedly declined four times to rule out running for the presidency.
Her father José Eduardo dos Santos ruled Angola for 38 years. Prosecutors are seeking to recover $1bn (£760m) Ms Dos Santos and her associates are alleged to owe the state.
She has denied any wrongdoing.
Ms Dos Santos, 46, is one of the world’s richest women, with Forbes magazine estimating her fortune to be worth $2.2bn, making her the richest woman in Africa.
Her father controversially appointed her as the head of Angola’s state-owned oil firm Sonangol in 2016.
She was sacked from the post in 2017 by President Joao Lourenço, her father’s handpicked successor.
What did she say?
In an interview in London, she repeatedly stressed that her life was at risk if she returned to Angola in the current circumstances.
Refusing to rule out the possibility of running for president, she said she had a strong sense of patriotism and duty to her country.
“To lead is to serve, so I will do whatever my life takes me,” she said.
Ms Dos Santos later told a Portuguese television channel that “it’s possible” she might run for the presidency in 2022.
The announcement marks a dramatic shift for a woman who has consistently portrayed herself as an entrepreneur with no interest in politics.
A court in the Angolan capital, Luanda, last month ordered the freezing of her bank accounts and of her vast business empire in the oil-rich country, following a string of investigations into alleged corruption by the Dos Santos family which prosecutors say has robbed the state of more than $2bn.
“These are false allegations and this is part of… an orchestrated attack by the current government that is completely politically motivated,” she said.
Her half-brother, José Filomeno dos Santos, is on trial in Angola on charges of corruption.
The prosecution alleges that he and his co-accused helped spirit $500m out of the country during his time as head of Angola’s Sovereign Wealth Fund. They have pleaded not guilty.
What has changed in Angola?
Ms Dos Santos repeatedly lashed out at President Lourenço, who succeeded her father two years ago as president.
Despite coming the same party, the MPLA, he has since stunned many Angolans by appearing to target the Dos Santos family as part of a broader anti-corruption drive.
“President Lourenço is fighting for absolute power. There’s a strong wish to neutralise any influence that [former] President Dos Santos might still have in the MPLA,” Ms Dos Santos said.
“If a different candidate would appear [ahead of the 2021 presidential election] supported by former President Dos Santos or allies linked to him, that would really challenge [Mr Lourenço’s] position because his current track record is very, very poor,” she added, citing rising unemployment, a stagnant economy and a wave of strikes.
But the allegations of corruption aimed at Ms Dos Santos and her half-brother have been given new weight by the criminal investigations launched against her in Angola.
