Libya and Qatar sign MoU to prepare studies for Tripoli International Airport investment project vision

Tripoli based Libyan Prime Minister, Abdel Hamid Aldabaiba, witnessed the signing ceremony today of a memorandum of understanding to prepare studies for the Tripoli International Airport project according to an investment vision.

The MoU was between the Libyan Investment Authority (LIA) and the Libyan Ministry of Transport on the one hand, and the Qatari Urbacon company (part of UCC Holdings) on the other.‎

The Libyan government says the MoU comes as part of Tripoli International Airport’s wider development efforts.

The MoU was signed at the Tripoli International Airport construction site during Aldabaiba’s inspection tour to follow up on the implementation of the first terminal at Tripoli International Airport.

‎Aldabaiba was accompanied on his tour by Minister of Transport, Mohammed Al-Shahoubi, Director of the Transport Projects Implementation Authority, Sami Al-Abash, Head of the Executive Team for the President’s Initiatives and Strategic Projects, Mustafa Al-Mana, and officials of the executing company. ‎

‎The signing ceremony was also attended by the Chairman of the Libyan Investment Authority, Mahmoud Ali, and the Qatari Ambassador to Libya, Khaled Al-Dosari, along with several engineers and officials from the Libyan and Qatari sides.‎

Italy’s AENEAS out of the picture?
It will be recalled that the Italian Aeneas Consortium had been building Tripoli International Airport up to September / October 2024. It had been awarded the contract for the renovation of Tripoli International Airport in 2017.

However, the failure by Libya to keep up payments to the consortium caused the construction to stall at the end of 2024.

It had been hoped that the visit of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to the Italian Libyan Business forum, held in Tripoli on 29 October, would have resolved the issue. However, the two sides failed to reach an agreement and quietly the implementation of the project was transferred to a Libyan company.

Libya seeking a different financing/implementation model?
With the signing of the MoU with the Qatari Urbacon to conduct an investment/implementation study of the airport, it seems Libya has accepted that it does, and will not, have the money to finance such a project from the state budget. It is therefore seeking a different financing/implementation model.

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AENEAS

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