The Head of the Imsaad Free Zone, Saad Mahmoud confirmed that they are “steps away from actually starting to implement the project.”
In press statements, he explained that the free zone will “contain a number of different vital points and centers, such as a commercial airport, port, and industrial and oil zones, which will provide real service to the Libyan economy.”
Mahmoud noted that an international company had begun to raise the engineering areas of the commercial port by four yards and eight berths. As well as adding that the free zone will “provide space for more than 500 companies and medium and small projects, providing job opportunities for more than 35,000 Libyan youth.”
Mahmoud concluded: “A wide scope and full opportunity will be given to investors from inside and outside the country.”
A statistical report prepared by the British data and analytics company, Global Data revealed that Libya is at the forefront of countries repelling investments during 2022.
The report ranked Libya alongside Syria and Yemen as being high risk for investors during the last quarter of 2022. The report pointed to the fact that the country was subject to social unrest, food insecurity, high debts, and inflation.
It quoted the company’s economic research analyst, Pooja Tiwari, as saying: “The humanitarian crisis, along with the escalating poverty in the Middle East and Africa, affects Libya.”
Libya has been in chaos since a NATO-backed uprising toppled longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. The county has for years been split between rival administrations, each backed by rogue militias and foreign governments.
The current stalemate grew out of the failure to hold elections in December 2021, and the refusal of Prime Minister Abdel-Hamid Dbaiba, who is leading the transitional government, to step down. In response, the country’s eastern-based Parliament appointed a rival Prime Minister, Fathi Bashagha, who has for months sought to install his government in Tripoli.
