Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Rome (Agenzia Fides) - Gaddafi's Libya in recent years has been one of the biggest investors in sub-Saharan Africa, thanks to its currency reserves (100 billion dollars in 2009). According to an article in "Les Afriques" Libyan investments in Africa have been directed mainly in the hotel and agriculture sector. The latter has seen a remarkable growth in recent years in countries like Mali, Nigeria and Liberia. In Mali, for example, Libya controls a company that owns 100,000 hectares of land. In Liberia the Libya Africa Portaolio (LAP) invested through a local NGO, 30 million euros for the development of rice production.
The LAP is the holding company that manages the majority of Libyan investments in Africa, worth $ 5 billion. The LAP has a capital of 8 billion dollars and aggregates the Libya Africa Financial Company (Lafico), the pan-African company Afriqiya, the Sahelo-Saharan Bank for Industry and Commerce (SBIC) and OIL Libya Company.
In addition to hotels and to the agricultural sector, Gaddafi's Libya has invested in African telecommunications, in particular in Chad and Zambia. The future of Libya therefore also concerns important sectors of the African economy, and more in general, processes to liberate the continent from Western financial and economic protection (and also Asian). (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 25/08/2011)
