Angola’s former president Jose Eduardo dos Santos, who ruled Africa’s second biggest oil producer for nearly four decades, has died aged 79, the Angolan presidency said on Facebook on Friday.

The former president died at 11:10 am Spanish time at the Barcelona Teknon clinic following a prolonged illness, the presidency said.

A spokesperson for the Barcelona Teknon clinic where he was being treated declined to comment.

Dos Santos had been receiving medical treatment since 2019.