NORTH AFRICA DESK

Primarily focused on the energy and migration files, Giorgia Meloni’s Italian government has pursued a pragmatic approach toward Libya, whereby any interlocutor is appreciated as long as they can satisfy Italian interests.

Both Egypt and Turkey are determined to open a new chapter in their relations and act in cooperation on several files instead of seeing one another as rivals. This diplomatic trend opens new avenues for Libya and its accentuation throughout 2024 is likely to impact domestic politics.

With every passing week, western Libya increasingly demonstrates how unsustainable the status quo is, as the facade of stability hangs on a thread.

This time, Gaddafi's comeback seems to have a military dimension to it, along with an impressive social component that makes this attempt considerably more compelling than any of his past failed attempts.

Slowly but surely, Libya seems to be creeping closer towards becoming the next competing ground for the U.S.-Russia rivalry.

As explained in this week’s Political Risk report, Libyans did not enjoy this year’s Eid al-Fitr as a result of the piling economic issues such as the liquidity crisis, inflation, and shortages. These problems are notably palpable in the south of the country, which had led an oil

For close to three weeks, southern Libyan protesters managed to block production at the country’s largest oilfield, al-Sharara, thus dropping overall crude production by 20% to 950,000 barrels per day. On January 21st, negotiations finally satisfied protesters who ended their sit down, thus allowing the NOC to lift

The 2022 Audit Bureau report highlights the problem of smuggling subsidised fuel, costing Libya about 5 billion USD annually. Libya exchanges crude oil for fuel without proper oversight, making it challenging to track fuel purchases and smuggling. While not directly the NOC’s responsibility, the public looks to the NOC’