Jose Eduardo Dos Santos of Angola
(1979 – 2017)
Jose Eduardo dos Santos of Angola is the second-longest-serving leader in Africa and is surpassed only by Teodoro Obiang Nguema who came into power two months before dos Santos. He rose to prominence within Angola as part of the People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola which fought for Angola’s independence. After the country’s independence, he became a member of the Central Committee and eventually served as Deputy Prime Minister. On September 20th, 1979 he was elected as the second President of Angola and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.
Jose Eduardo dos Santos has repeatedly stated that he will step down as President and that elections will be held but the elections always end with him being re-elected as leader of the ruling party and the majority party’s leader automatically becomes president. While on the surface he has boosted the Angolan economy and developed the oil sector of the country’s industry. He has also worked to increase market cooperation and foreign investment in African diamond industries.
However, as the economy of Angola grows, the wealth of its citizens remains stagnant. Almost 70% of the population exists on only $2 a day while the government budget has grown to $69 billion. It was discovered that $32 billion in oil revenues just disappeared. Not only does dos Santos and his family appear to be looting from the oil revenues but when many industries were privatized after the Angolan Civil War he took control of many of those industries personally. He also took over a number of natural resource industries which continues to build his personal wealth. He has an estimated net worth of $20 billion and his daughter has a net worth of $3.8 billion.