The beginning of the year 2020 was marked by the litigation processes between the Angolan businesswoman Isabel dos Santos and the Portuguese State after the international investigation carried out by journalists within the scope of the Luanda Leaks project.
The most recent development focuses on public guarantees given by Angola to the daughter of the former Angolan President, José Eduardo dos Santos, for the purchase of the Portuguese multinational Efacec, which is now under the control of the Portuguese Government. At stake is the debt contracted by the entrepreneur to Portuguese banking, namely through Novo Banco (NB), Banco Comercial Português (BCP) and Caixa Geral de Depósitos (CGD).
These financial institutions have brought actions against Isabel dos Santos’ company Winterfell, which could lead the Angolan State to pay 30 million euros due to the guarantee given by the Electricity Distribution Company of Angola (ENDE) for the purchase of Efacec by Winterfell .
“I believe that this is a long process and does not make life easier for businesswoman Isabel dos Santos”, comments Rosália Amorim, director of Diário de Notícias.
The Portuguese State intends to relaunch the multinational Efacec, which has been nationalized, and to re-privatize it. “Isabel dos Santos went to court asking for the nationalization challenge, which she considered discriminatory. Now, this arm of force continues, but I believe that any action that may now be taken in the current circumstance, and considering the existing information, should not be understood as a divergence between the Portuguese State and the Angolan State and any doubt will certainly be settled at its own headquarters, that is, in court, ”says the journalist.
The problem of politically exposed people
According to deputy Jorge Costa, co-author of the book “Os Donos Angolanos de Portugal”, the execution of the Angolan public guarantee on loans from Portuguese banks to companies from Isabel dos Santos is another case in point of the danger that financial relations with people politically exposed represents for states and taxpayers.
“It is also surprising that Portuguese banks already knew the previous case of Banco Espírito Santo (BES), when they made the decision to come and lend to Isabel dos Santos under these conditions”, stresses the Portuguese parliamentarian.
As for Efacec, the deputy of the Bloco de Esquerda and also a journalist estimates that “the losses will eventually fall, as seems to be the case, in the account of Angolan taxpayers, since it is the Angolan State, through ENDE, that gave the guarantee on these loans to Isabel dos Santos, the daughter of the former President of the Republic ”.
In this context, Jorge Costa affirms that “the Portuguese banking sector also had a profoundly condemnable behavior”.
For the analyst, private banks must be careful when dealing with politically exposed people, knowing in advance that the promiscuous relations with power were striking.
Finally, analyst Rosália Amorim considers that the most important thing in this whole process is that Efacec – which has always been one of the most prestigious Portuguese companies – is relaunched to regain competitiveness.
“It is an important company in terms of qualified employment in the North of the country, as well as in terms of centers of skills, technology and exports that Portugal does not want to lose”, he warns.
