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Broad cross-sectoral cooperation to address the degradation of North Africa’s largest aquifer shared by Algeria, Libya and Tunisia

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Shared by Algeria, Libya and Tunisia, the North Western Sahara Aquifer System (NWSAS) is North Africa’s largest groundwater reserve, supporting the lives and livelihoods of 4.8 million inhabitants. A vital water resource extending over 1 million square kilometres in a highly arid environment, the aquifer system is naturally vulnerable due its low natural recharge. Fragile ecosystems, such as wetlands, are consequently under threat and local populations are exposed to significant vulnerability.

A report launched by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) underlines the urgency of taking action across borders and sectors to address the threats leading to the degradation of the aquifer system.  Worldwide, transboundary groundwater resources are commonly not covered by formal cooperation arrangements, yet they constitute important sources of water for drinking and other uses, are susceptible to pollution, complex to investigate and commonly inadequately understood.

Focusing on the interlinkages between energy, water, land and ecosystem resources, the new transboundary “nexus” assessment analyses cross-sectoral dynamics and identifies integrated solutions to render resource management more sustainable and efficient. The assessment was carried out under the Water Convention by UNECE, Global Water Partnership Mediterranean and the Sahara and Sahel Observatory, with the support of the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency.

Turkish president, Libyan PM to boost economic and development cooperation

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President Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday Turkey aims to strengthen relations with Libya’s internationally-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) after a meeting with the country’s prime minister, who plans to step down this month

Both sides agreed to expand cooperation during the next stage in various economic and development fields, a statement by the Presidential Council head media office said on Facebook.

During the meeting, Erdogan said Turkey would continue to stand in full solidarity with Libya and its sole legitimate representative, the Government of National Accord.

Saying the UN’s registration of a maritime agreement between Turkey and Libya is good news, Erdogan stressed that Turkey will continue its support for Libya’s stability and the welfare of the Libyan people.

The two sides also agreed to enhance cooperation in the field of building Libyan defense and security capabilities through training, rehabilitation, and equipping programs, in accordance with the memorandum of understanding signed between the two countries in November 2019.

“Airlines must be dissolved”

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“The dissolution of the struggling aviation companies is the only solution because of the very complex relationship between the successive Libyan governments and these companies.” The aviation expert Adel Al-Qadi said during a televised interview for Libyan WTV channel and Tabadul Platform.

“The conditions within the state-owned companies are much worse than those of private companies… If there are openness and improvement in security matters, the private sector will completely eliminate the public sector.” The aviation expert emphasized.

Al-Qadi indicated that the accumulated debts and problems in public airlines will transmit the debt crisis and the absence of assets to the party that will acquire these companies. He also highlighted the accumulated problems faced by the Libyan airlines, represented in the 500 million dinars accumulated debts.

” Telecommunications sector in libya to witness an unprecedented failure”

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During a televised interview for Libyan WTV channel and Tabadul Platform, the tech blogger Amin Saleh has criticized what he considered an administrative obstruction of successful, small companies with regard to the telecommunications sector, explaining that companies such as Almadar, Libyana, LTT and Aljeel are successful and have an excellent system.

Saleh expected that the situation in the telecommunications sector after 3 or 4 years will be pretty bad. In fact, the situation of communications sector will be worse than the current issue of electricity.

He added that the economic situation will be worse, indicating that there are complaints and emails confirming that the telecommunications sector suffers.

 While referring to the ongoing conflict between major Libyan institutions such as the Central Bank, GECOL, Libya Holdings as well as the Audit Bureau, Amin Saleh considered that the telecommunications sector would witness an unprecedented failure.

“The telecommunications sector wants to move forward, but there are parties impeding this development.” He said, presenting as an example the letter addressed by the Commission to the Central Bank demanding the suspension of the funds allocated to Aljeel.

Libya’s draft 2021 budget discussions completed

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The Ministry of Finance of Libya’s internationally recognized government announced yesterday the completion of the discussion of the draft 2021 budget on Thursday.

The Ministry had made special efforts this year to get the budget estimates by all the various government departments handed in on time.

In July, it launched an online platform to enable government departments to lodge their estimates virtually.

It had also issued a publication on the preparation of the 2021 state budget.

LBC demands to be part of the Geneva dialogue

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The Libyan Businessmen Council (LBC) has denounced the UN mission’s action regarding the economic dialogue committee to be formed during the coming period.

The council expressed its dissatisfaction with the lack of a clear mechanism and criteria for selecting the representatives in the committee referred to.

In a letter addressed to the UNSMIL Acting Head, Stephanie Williams, LBC Chairman, Eng. Abdullah Al-Falah emphasized the importance of including the council within the economic dialogue talks, as it represents the interests of the private sector, as he put it.

“The LBC works as a unified economic institution that represents all Libyan regions without exception and is not seeking government positions,” Al-Fallah said, stressing that the UNSMIL’s move shows disregard to the council and its role.

“The council will continue its efforts to establish civil peace, support the national economy, and contribute to building a healthy and effective economy that serves our country and contributes to its development,” Al-Fallah added.

Libya Set For Strong Comeback To Global Oil Markets

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Libya could soon return to the world oil market in a big way, if the agreement between the UN-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli and General Khalifa Haftar’s Libyan National Army (LNA) in the East of the country is maintained.

Libya’s production plummeted from 1.2 million bpd in January to under 200,000 bpd in recent months, after tribal militias and the LNA blockaded key ports on the East of the country – Brega, Zuetina, and Hariga — in an attempt to starve the UN-backed GNA of revenue. Should the conditional agreement stick, Libya could see production reach 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) as soon as this weekend and up to 1,000,000 bpd in the fourth quarter, per Bloomberg.

According to the media, the deal was brokered directly between General Haftar’s son Khaled and GNA Deputy Prime Minister Ahmed Maiteeq, who is heading the Peace Commission. Per the agreement, the LNA ended its blockade of key oil export infrastructure mid last month. It also provides for the commencement of the Commission to oversee oil revenues and ensure equitable distribution of resources, as well as a number of specific measures to stabilize the financial situation in Libya.

The agreement, although only intended for a one-month period so far, contains elements of more permanent arrangements that benefit both the GNA and the Western region LNA, as well as the tribes that inhabit all areas of Libya: the launch of the exchange rate adjustment mechanism of the dinar, including leveling the exchange rate throughout the country; the opening of a system of national payments between Libyan banks; and more. Maiteeq called the agreement concluded under the new Commission (“the Libyan-Libyan initiative”).

If the parties fulfill their obligations to improve the socio-economic situation of the Libyan people, it will increase the authority and popularity of General Haftar as well as GNA Vice Premier Ahmed Maiteeq, the architect of the agreement and head of the Commission. Mr. Maiteeq is a longtime businessman and prominent politician — he hails from a wealthy family and was elected Prime Minister in 2015. With the new agreement holding, Maiteeq has achieved what current GNA Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj has been unable to accomplish for many months. It is still unclear whether al-Sarraj will sign off on the deal, however, as he is maneuvering to remain a power-broker after stepping down this fall.

Inter-Libyan dialogue: Second round of talks starts in Bouznika

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The Libyan Dialogue’s second round between the delegations of the House of Representatives and the High Council of State kicked off on Friday after being delayed three times over the last month.

According to Maghreb Arabe Presse, the Libyan parties met Friday evening as part of the second rounds of the Libyan Dialogue that was hosted by Bouzinka, Morocco, under the auspices of the UNSMIL.

The delegation of the House of Representatives of Tobruk was headed by Yousef Al-Agouri and the delegation of the High Council of State of Tripoli was headed by Fawzi Oqab.

The second round of the Libyan Dialogue in Bouznika, according to sources close to the delegations, the talks will revolve around setting up criteria for choosing the figures to hold sovereign positions in Libya; including Central Bank of Libya, Audit Bureau, Administrative Control Authority, Anti-Corruption Authority, High Commissions for Elections, Supreme Court and Attorney General.

The round was slated for Sunday then pushed to Thursday, after that, it was put off indefinitely; according to the High Council of State, over disputes about the sovereign posts.

Hamada Oil Field starts pumping crude oil to the Zawia Refinery

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The Arabian Gulf Oil Company (AGOCO) announced on Friday, the initiation of pumping of crude oil from the Hamada Oil Field to the Zawiya Station, to then be transferred to the Zawiya Refinery in north western Libya.

AGOCO stated on its official Facebook page that this process comes according to the company’s management instructions for reinitiating production operations, after lifting the force majeure by the NOC from the company’s oil fields.

An official at the Zawia Station, confirmed that the facility had already begun receiving crude oil from the Hamada Oil Field, to be then pumped to the Zawia refinery.

Libya aims to revive economic relations with Turkey

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A Libyan business delegation including business people, civil society leaders and officials will visit Turkey this month to restore economic relations between the two countries.

The delegation, under the leadership of Mohammad Abdul Karim Raied — the head of the General Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Libya — will attend a two-day business event in Istanbul starting on Oct. 15.

The event, supported by Turkey’s Economic Relations Board (DEIK) and the Libya Economy Ministry, will host over 200 Libyan producers and exporters 100 from Turkey.

While Turkish contractors had assumed projects in Libya worth $7-8 billion in 2010, there were no projects this year.

Turkey’s contractors assumed projects worth over $28 billion in Libya — 7% of their projects around the world worth a total $401.3 billion.

Raied told Anadolu Agency that developments in Libya had caused problems for oil exporters.

Raied invited Turkish firms from all sectors to the event to discuss business and investment opportunities with the Libyan side.

“One of our main goals will be to restore the confidence for Turkish companies to resume their activities in Libya.”

Murtaza Karanfil, the head of DEIK’s Turkey-Libya Business Council, said Turkey’s exports to Libya amounted to $937 million in the first eight months and may reach last year’s levels in 2020.

Last year, the two countries’ bilateral trade was around $2.43 billion, while Turkey exported $1.96 billion to the North African nation.

With new investments, the two countries’ bilateral trade volume may rise to $10 billion, he added.