She conquered the territories of Lemba and Matari, as well as those located along the Mbidizi river in the Kingdom of Kongo (in the regions of present-day Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo) in the 17th century.
During the civil war between the Kanda Kinlaza and Kimpanzu which ravaged the Kingdom of Kongo between 1665 and 1709, Ana Afonso de Leão established a quasi-independent regional principality which included the marquises of Nkondo and Mpemba and the Duchy of Mbamba.
After the elimination of Manuel, two of the queen's nephews, Alexis Afonso, the new Duke of Mbamba and Pedro Constantino de Silva, Marquis of Wembo, hatched a plot against her in order to oust him.
[1] King João II refused to accept the conditions considered essential to ensure a final peace: the restitution of Kiowa kia Nza, which he had taken from the count of Soyo, and the occupation of the ancient capital São Salvador.
Thanks to his authority, the principal leaders of the country swore loyalty to this king, who was crowned in São Salvador on 2 August 1696; however the ambitions of some potentates stood in the way of its restoration which only took place in 1709.