What are the Luanda leaks and what do they mean for the jewellery industry?
What are the Luanda leaks?
In January 2020 a series of documents and communications centred around corruption in Angola where released which have subsequently become known as the ‘Luanda leaks’. Similar to previous high profile leaks such as the Panama papers, the documents reveal details of large scale corruption, in this case, in Angola.
Isobel Dos Santos, the daughter of former Angolan dictator Jose Eduardo dos Santos is at the centre of many of the allegations of corruption. In short, the documents reveal how Dos Santos moved public money out of one of the poorest countries in the world to tax havens and beyond.
The capital of Angola, Luanda is frequently cited as the most expensive city in the world to live in. This is a startling statistic when you consider the poverty that affects the majority of the population.
Isobel Dos Santos is the richest woman in Africa with an estimated fortune of around $2bn
In 2020 Angola has the 12th worst infant mortality rate in world, this puts it behind South Sudan, Yemen, Haiti and Syria and around 70% of the population survive on less than $2 a day.
As with many countries with mineral wealth, the elites of the nation are able to enrich themselves while many in their country die of malnutrition and easily preventable diseases. They are able to do this with the help of institutions and individuals all over the world.
Epidemics of cholera, malaria, rabies and African hemorrhagic fevers like Marburg hemorrhagic fever, are common diseases in several parts of the country.
Angola is rich with many natural resources and a large percentage of the corruption was centred around the countries oil industry however diamonds also played a part.
Angola has significant deposits of diamonds and yearly output is estimated to be around 9million cts
After the Luanda leaks scandal, Swiss jewellery house De Grisogono filed for bankruptcy after it was the centre of many of the documents released, minutes from board meetings, where amongst the documents that helped paint a picture of the scale of the corruption at the heart of the leaks.
Up until the story of the Luanda leaks broke, De Grisogono was a fully certified member of the ‘Responsible Jewellery council’ a trade body who purport to be ‘‘the world’s leading standard-setting organisation for the jewellery and watch industry. We promote standards that underpin people’s trust in the worldwide jewellery and watch supply chain.’’
