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By virtue of the Ministry of Economy and Trade’s decree 896/2022 dated 2 October, a new board, and head of the Libyan Business Council (LBC) was installed yesterday.
The new head of the LBC is businessman and industrialist Rashid Swani who is also currently head of the Libyan Industry Union (LIU). He is most known for his Nada brand water and drinks bottling factory, which is part of his multi-sector Swani Holding Company.
The intervention by the Economy Ministry has come as a surprise. There is a view that it is illegal. The LBC interim head, Bashir Essadi, had been appointed in March as a stop gap after a court ruling removed his long serving predecessor, Abdalla Fellah, for overstaying his term.
Essadi has been assigned by the LBC General Assembly to draft new internal regulations after which a General Assembly meeting was planned to elect a new fully empowered LBC head. However, the process has put the LBC in limbo and Essadi has been criticised for taking too long to draft the internal regulations and for being too conservative in activating the LBC in the meanwhile .
LBC needs serious reforming
Even Essadi admitted in a Libya Herald interview in March this year that the LBC needs serious reforming and reinvigoration. He acknowledged it had lost its way and purpose over the last decade.
‘‘The LBC should prepare a vision for the future to be taken more seriously’’, he explained. He admitted it had lost its prestige amongst its members and the successive governments. He had also admitted that internal politics and wrangling had weakened it.
