Speaking to BBC Sport Africa, he said that although he feels ‘privileged’ to be the only black manager in the top flight, he does not believe discrimination plays a part when football owners are recruiting managers.
Santo said: "The difference between us is not something that clubs look at. I don't believe it," the 51-year-old said.
"It's by your talent, it's by your hard work and by luck that we have a project that you did well, then people look to hire."
Only 11 black coaches have been appointed as either a permanent or caretaker manager during the Premier League era.
To address the issue the English Football League introduced the Rooney rule in 2019, a policy that was established in the American football league in 2003.
The Rooney Rule is a policy that requires league teams to interview ethnic minority candidates for head coaching and senior football operation jobs. The program mandated interviews with underrepresented minority groups, aligning with modern diversity, equality and inclusion principles.
Santo views are not shared by everyone. One of the black managers to manage in the Premier is League is former Newcastle, Norwich and Brighton boss Chris Hughton, who believes the situation has got worse.
Hughton said: "Instead of getting better, it's getting worse. What I do see is that the underbelly is getting better. There are more black and ethnic coaches involved at under-21 level, at academy level, so I think there's certainly an improvement in that aspect.”
"But I think it's in the more visible areas that we want to see more growth."
Deji Davies, a director at Brentford and chair of the Football Association's Inclusion Advisory Board also agrees that more needs to be done.
Davies said: "Nearly 50% of Premier League players are black, so it's synonymous with our people, with our culture,"
"Whilst the numbers are great on the pitch, the minute we move away the numbers aren't as good. Until very recently I was the only black board director in the Premier League."
Premier League have said since establishing its No Room for Racism Action Plan in 2021, 91% of participants have gone on to gain full-time employment in the professional game.