Their fathers’ sins haunt them, some now carry the cross for ill-gotten riches
Isabel dos Santos, daughter of the second president of Angola, Jose Eduardo dos Santos, is usually called Africa’s richest woman, which is a misnomer. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP
When in 1483, Vasco da Gama dropped anchor off the village of Luanda, in what is today known as Angola, he likely was just looking for replenishment of provisions for his long voyage round the Cape Ann on to India. Soon, the Portuguese got drawn in by the lure of other points on their itinerary, including Mozambique, Mombasa-Malindi, Goa and Macao.
Brazil came a little later to symbolise what the Iberians really desired, but Angola remained a strategic outpost for the seafaring adventurers who came and went along the precious sea-lanes. What we know today as Angola was brought under imperial Portugal and kept as a colonial possession until 1975.
