Libya re launches stock exchange

Published:  16 Mar at 6 PM

As reported by the BBC, Libya has re-launched its stock exchange for the first time since Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's regime fell. The exchange includes 10 firms, while the first day of trade was worth 3.9 billion Libyan dinars ($3 billion; £2 billion), said its general manager.

Nearly all the nation’s publicly traded companies are insurers and banks, with the exception of al-Ahliya Cement. Once the central bank finalises the law, foreign investors will have the right to own up to 10 per cent of shares.

In June 2011, a pro-Gaddafi brigade took over the former stock market building, driving many former traders and staff out with backups and documents in their private cars. There was no rule of law before 17 February, Ahmed Karoud said, referring to the beginning of the uprising which overthrew Colonel Gaddafi.

There were 13 firms on the stock exchange before Mr Gaddafi’s fall. The re-opening is sending a signal to the world that the country is now stable with a new economy, said Mr Karoud. There is still no government, but there exists the infrastructure necessary to act as a financial hub in North Africa, he added.

The Libyan stock market was modelled off of Abu Dhabi's, said Mr Karoud. Oil firms, telecommunication companies and property firms will soon be joining, he added.