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French-Lebanese shipyard magnate Iskandar Safa died at the age of 69 on Monday (29) in Mougins, France, from an illness, according to his partner at Valeurs Actuelles magazine, Tugdual Denis.

In an announcement on the social network 'X', formerly Twitter, Denis wrote: "Tonight, it is with deep sadness that we inform you of the death of our owner, Iskandar Safa. He passed away with the dignity of the horseman he was. May God bless his soul and protect his family, who meant so much to him."

In fact, the magazine of which he was a partner issued a statement on its website revealing that Iskandar Safa "has been battling a serious illness in recent months", and asked for privacy for the family "at this time of mourning".

A secretive character, Iskandar Safa controlled shipyards in Cherbourg (CMN), Greece, Abu Dhabi and Germany, north of Hamburg (GNYK for large naval vessels and Nobiskrug, where the world's largest sailing yacht was built in 2017). It acquired the Current Valuesin 2015 for 9.2 million euros.

Last year, his fortune and that of his brother Akram amounted to 1.45 billion euros. (Sources: Le Monde, Current Values, lejsl).

In Mozambique, Iskandar Safa's stardom has to do with the biggest financial default the country has ever known, the hidden debts. He is accused of being the main mastermind of the case that cost the state more than 2.7 billion dollars.

The situation led to the main providers of finance suspending their remittances to Mozambique. The country was embroiled in a supposedly economically unviable deal, having made loans possible without the approval of the Assembly of the Republic for three companies, namely Empresa Moçambicana de Atum, Mozambique Asset Management and ProIndicus.