LISBON, 25 June. - (ANA) - Angola's former president Jose Eduardo dos Santos, who ruled Africa's second biggest oil producer for nearly four decades, is in intensive care at a clinic in Barcelona, Portuguese news agency Lusa reported, citing a source close to him. 

 

Dos Santos, 79, has been receiving medical treatment since 2019, but his health deteriorated and he was admitted to an intensive care unit, Lusa reported on Thursday, without saying when this occurred. 

 

The Angolan government did not respond immediately on Friday to a request for comment on the former president's condition. 

 

One of Africa's longest serving leaders, dos Santos stepped down five years ago. His rule was marked by a brutal civil war lasting nearly three decades against U.S.-backed UNITA rebels - which he won in 2002 - and a subsequent oil-fuelled boom.

 

Between 2002 and 2014, as oil production grew and prices boomed, Angola's economy expanded tenfold, from $12.4 billion to $126 billion. But little of that wealth trickled down to the poor, while those closest to dos Santos became super-rich -- including his daughter, Isabel, whom Forbes labelled Africa's richest woman and youngest billionaire, worth about $3 billion.   - (ANA) -

 

AB/ANA/25 June 2022 — - -