Husband of Africa’s Richest Woman Isabel dos Santos Dies in a Diving Accident in Dubai

Africa’s richest woman Isabel dos Santos of Angola has lost her husband, Sindika Dokolo.

Dokolo, a Congolese businessman, is reported to have died in a diving accident in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Thursday, according to reports.

The 48-year-old art collector married dos Santos, the daughter of former Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, in 2002. 

Early this year, an Angolan court issued orders freezing bank accounts belonging to the couple in an attempt to recover alleged looted funds.
    
They are accused of siphoning at least $100 million from the government through State-run oil company Sonangol and Sodiam, and transferred through entities abroad but Isabel refuted the allegations.

“Ms. Isabel dos Santos also tried unsuccessfully to transfer huge amounts of Euros to Russia through Portugal in order to invest in Japan,” the court decision read.

Isabel is Africa’s richest woman with a net worth of $2.2 billion, according to Forbes. Her assets in Angola include a 25 percent stake in Unitel, one of the country’s two mobile phone networks, a 25 percent stake in Banco Internacional de Credito (Banco BIC), 51 percent in BFA, and 99.9 percent in Zap Media.

Dokolo is the son of the late Congolese billionaire Augustin Dokolo Sanu, who built one of the biggest business empires in Zaire under the government of the late Mobutu Sese Seko. He inherited his father’s fortune following his death in 2001 and owned 3,000 pieces of contemporary African art.