Libya's $70 billion wealth fund anticipates UN approval to manage assets

The Libyan Investment Authority (LIA) expects UN approval by year-end to manage its $70 billion assets for the first time in over a decade, its chief executive told Reuters. The LIA, established under Muammar Gaddafi in 2006 to manage Libya’s oil wealth, has been under a UN asset freeze since the 2011 revolution. This means Africa’s largest sovereign wealth fund needs UN Security Council approval to make new investments or move funds from negative interest rate accounts where they have been losing money.

Chief Executive Ali Mahmoud Mohamed expressed confidence the council will approve the investment plan submitted in March. The freeze has reportedly cost the LIA $4.1 billion in potential equity returns.

Mohamed highlighted LIA’s increasing transparency after a bumpy decade when the authority at one point had duelling chairmen. The LIA plans domestic investments in solar power and boosting oil exports. Libya is one of Africa’s largest oil exporters.