For Angola’s super-rich, it’s no longer cool to drive a Ferrari

Toward the tail-end of Jose Eduardo dos Santos’s almost four-decade rule of Angola, Porsches, BMWs and the occasional Ferrari meandered through the streets of downtown Luanda past legions of beggars.

Such public displays of affluence in one of the world’s most unequal nations are becoming less commonplace as the government intensifies a crackdown on graft, with many of the well-heeled trying to hide their wealth or pretending they were never rich.

“The market is tough,” said Kolly Villa, a luxury-car salesperson in Luanda who imports custom-made vehicles from the US.

“People aren’t buying or using their own luxury cars because they’re afraid to go out on the street.”

Angola’s oil-fired economy boomed after a 27-year civil war ended in 2002, but the spoils largely ended up in the hands of a tiny elite with close ties to the former president. They included his daughter, Isabel, who became the continent’s richest woman with stakes in industries ranging from banking and cement to telecommunications and diamonds.

Rich Angolans who made their way to Portugal, the southwestern African nation’s former colonial power, established a reputation for flashy lifestyles. Several bought multimillion-euro apartments and mansions in the seaside town of Cascais, and some residents blamed them for inflating real estate prices.

“You must think I’m Angolan” became a common retort from those who felt they were being over-charged.

Joao Lourenco, a former army general, replaced Dos Santos in 2017 and unleashed an anti-corruption drive that has targeted several members of his predecessor’s inner circle, and ostentatious displays of wealth became noticeably less prevalent. As Lourenco, 68, began a new five-year term this month, he pledged to intensify his campaign and spread wealth more evenly in a nation where the World Bank estimates about half the population of 33-million lives on less than $1.90 (about R34) per day.

Corruption probes

The government said it has opened more than 3,000 corruption, money-laundering and other commercial investigations since Lourenco came to power, and more than $20bn (roughly R362,521,400,000) worth of illicitly acquired assets have been seized in Angola and abroad.

Those targeted include Isabel dos Santos, who had her assets in Angola and Portugal frozen after an international media investigation called the Luanda Leaks implicated her in several questionable business deals. She served as chair of Sonangol, Angola’s state oil company, during her father’s tenure and her net worth exceeded $2bn (roughly R36,252,140,000). She has denied wrongdoing and alleged she is the victim of a political vendetta.  

Jose Filomeno dos Santos, Isabel’s half-brother who ran Angola’s $5bn (roughly R90,676,500,000) sovereign wealth fund, was accused by Angola’s finance ministry of trying to siphon $1.5bon (roughly R27,202,950,000) from the central bank days before his father stepped down as president. He was sentenced to five years in prison after a court found him guilty of taking part in an illegal transfer of $500m (roughly R9,067,650,000) from the central bank to an account in the UK.

At least three former ministers who served in Dos Santos’s cabinet have also been subjected to judicial inquiries. Dos Santos, who held power from 1979 to 2017, died in July at the age of 79. 

Paulo Carvalho, a sociology professor at Agostinho Neto University in Luanda, is among those who’ve observed distinct behavioral changes among the wealthy. 

“Rich Angolans always had a tendency to flaunt their wealth in the face of others,” he said.

“The fight against corruption forced many in the elite to become more discreet.”

Alexandre Pacheco, founder of Luanda-based online real estate broker My Imovel, has seen a pick-up in demand for luxury properties after a prolonged recession, and also detected a shift in attitude among those shopping for homes worth more than $500,000 (roughly R9,065,990). 

“Most people who have the financial capacity to buy these properties ask others to do it for them,” he said. 

Election outcome

Opposition parties accuse Lourenco of using his anti-graft crusade as a smokescreen to distract from the country’s economic woes and settle political scores, and allege the abuse of taxpayer funds remains rife. Public disenchantment over corruption, rampant poverty and unemployment saw support for the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola, which has held power for almost half a century, fall to 51% in August 24 elections, the lowest level since the civil war ended.

Lourenco denies prosecutions have been selective, and said he remains committed to raising living standards.

“The bodies of justice will proceed with their work in preventing and fighting corruption and impunity, which still exists,” he said in a September 16 speech after being inaugurated for a second term. 

Rich Angolans’ newfound penchant for austerity was absent from that ceremony as dozens of Toyota Land Cruisers with tinted windows were seen leaving the venue in Luanda. 

“Such displays of wealth, even if they have been tamed down, are no longer acceptable,” said Manuel Alves da Rocha, an economics professor at the Catholic University of Angola in Luanda, who has taught many of the nation’s top government officials.

“The time has come to start caring for the rest of the population.”

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