Creeping stability spurs Libya’s post-Gaddafi era portfolio shakeup across Africa

By Seth ONYANGO

Libya is using its vast sovereign wealth fund to revitalise its decades-old investments across Africa as a fragile political stability holds in the North African state.

Years of political strife had stymied the ability of the Libyan Investment Authority’s $67 billion sovereign wealth fund to extract value from its extensive portfolio.

But recently, the Libyan African Investment Company (Laico), a subsidiary of the authority, has been modernising its portfolio and pruning underperforming assets.

Laico has now begun coaxing global partners to breathe life into a strategy that once bankrolled hotels, oil networks, and telecoms across the continent.

Its revamped website states that the state-run company plans to “leverage innovative technologies to streamline processes” and “foster sustainable environments.”

This includes modernising legacy holdings inherited from the ex-president Muammar Gaddafi era and pursuing high-yield sectors such as renewable energy and agribusiness.

“Laico is actively implementing a portfolio-restructuring strategy to enhance its high-potential assets and divest unproductive investments,” the company states.

The strategy mirrors Gulf-style economic statecraft, with Tripoli aiming to convert legacy investments into modern revenue streams while courting partners to diversify beyond its oil-dependent economy.

The Libyan Investment Authority, long constrained by international sanctions and domestic turmoil, is best known for its Gaddafi-era stakes in African infrastructure, including Kenya’s Ola Energy fuel network and South Africa’s Michelangelo Hotel.

But its latest moves reflect a sharper commercial focus, mirroring Gulf sovereign funds like Qatar’s QIA and Saudi Arabia’s PIF, which have used state capital to diversify their economies and secure regional influence.

A semblance of order in Tripoli has unlocked the potential for reinvestment, notably in the tourism and hospitality industries, where Libyan entities already hold significant stakes.

In Johannesburg, Laico’s Ensemble Hotel Holdings has sought court approval to force a private auction for control of Legacy Hotels, a luxury group founded by South African hotelier Bart Dorrestein.

The bid, if successful, would mark Libya’s most assertive post-sanctions deal, targeting a portfolio of 19 properties.

The move aligns with broader diversification. Ola Energy, rebranded from OilLibya, operates over 3,000 fuel stations in 17 African nations, including including Egypt, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Gabon, Mali and Burkina Faso.

Others are Niger, Chad, Uganda, Nigeria, Mauritius, Réunion, Morocco, Tunisia, Ethiopia, and Sudan. This network positions it as a key competitor to TotalEnergies in Francophone West Africa and a growing force in East African markets like Kenya and Uganda, where it rivals TotalEnergies and Shell.

Laico’s diversified asset base spans the hospitality and real estate sectors include 20 hotels and two resorts, offering more than 3,500 rooms across 27 African countries.

In Uganda, a stalled US$300 million oil pipeline deal — stymied by contractual disputes since 2007 — is back in play as relations thaw.

“The company aims to diversify revenue streams to reduce dependency on hotel operations and mitigate associated risks,” Laico’s website states, underscoring bets on energy, agriculture, and fintech.

Libya’s edge lies in its entrenched African footprint, built under Gaddafi’s pan-African agenda.

Laico’s holdings span multiple nations including funding the Kempinski N’Djamena hotel and telecom operator SOTEL in Chad.

Even Mali’s contentious US$185 million Malibya agricultural venture, paused after 2011 unrest, is being quietly revived. The land area allocated for the project is 100,000 hectares.

Guinea-Bissau features prominently in its portfolio, hosting four cashew processing plants alongside a five-star hotel. Meanwhile, in Gabon, Laico owns a 52% stake in Africa N°1, the Panafrican radio network that reaches 20 million listeners.

In Zimbabwe, the Libya Foreign Bank holds a 14% stake in CBZ Bank, a key player in Harare’s economy.

In Niger, Laico backs Agadez’s top hotel and Niamey’s grand mosque. In Rwanda, after the 2011 collapse of telecom arm Rwandatel, Laico has pivoted to acquiring data centres.

On its website, Laico describes “leveraging its ubiquity across Africa to actively seek business and trading opportunities.”

As it diversifies its porfolio, Libya is also eying investors to support Rascom Star-Qaf, a satellite firm delivering telecom and internet services across Africa, as part of its push to enhance connectivity and regional growth.

In Mozambique, it has investments in Lap Ubuntu.SA which it oversees a 20,000-hectare rice project with milling facilities, driving food security and economic value.

To distance itself from Gaddafi-era patronage, Laico has modernised its pitch. Its website now offers blockchain-tracked supply chains and AI-driven dashboards, targeting tech investors in Lagos and Cape Town.

In Senegal and Tanzania, Ola Energy stations test solar microgrids, while Nairobi’s Laico Regency Hotel, acquired in 2008, serves as a hub for dealmaking.

Still, Tripoli’s ambitions face significant hurdles as the political climate remains fraught, with unresolved internal divisions threatening to derail the LIA’s plans.

Aly-Khan Satchu, a Kenyan financial analyst and CEO of Rich Management, highlights the challenges: “With the political power structure still fragmented between the East and Tripoli, the fear remains that a flurry of dealmaking is simply a desire to get the brokerage payout going.”

Despite these concerns, Satchu acknowledges the potential for a turnaround, noting that the LIA is “seriously deep-pocketed and portfolio optimisation is long overdue.”

He adds that the LIA has a genuine opportunity to reclaim its position as a major player and investor on the continent.

Regulatory disputes, such as a contract quarrel over Uganda’s oil pipeline also highlight operational risks in cross-border ventures.

Yet the LIA is pressing ahead, buoyed by Africa’s projected 4% economic growth this year.