Libyan Post Telecommunications and Information Technology Company (LPTIC) said it has consolidated several Libyan-owned shareholdings in mobile and fixed-line telecoms companies in sub-Saharan Africa.
The assets were previously managed as part of a wider investment portfolio of the Libyan Investment Authority and include operations in Cote d'Ivoire, South Sudan and Uganda, previously managed by LAP GreenN.
LPTIC -- a sovereign holding company that was established to develop the ICT sector in Libya and invest in telecoms infrastructure in Libya and abroad -- said its management team would now focus on transforming the broader African asset portfolio.
LPTIC chairman Faisal Gergab commented that the first priority would be to ensure the asset base is operating in an effective and sustainable way.
"Once we have achieved this we will look to explore new opportunities for growth and demonstrate our value to both the Libyan economy as well as other growing economies in the region," Gergab said.
LPTIC owns telecoms operators in Libya including the mobile operators Libyana and Al-Madar as well as Libya Telecom and Technology (LTT), Aljeel, International Telecommunications Company, Hatef Libya and the real estate investment company Alboniya.
Hassan Bouhadi, chairman of the Libyan Investment Authority, said he believes LPTIC is best qualified to manage the transformation of Libya's telecommunications assets in Africa.
"I have every confidence in the team's ability to realise value for all stakeholders and in particular the Libyan people," Bouhadi added.
In 2013, it was reported that Libya hoped to list one of the mobile operators during 2014. In early 2014, Reuters reported that the plans were delayed over the "sensitive question of job cuts".
A recent research report from BuddeComm also noted that elements of Libyana's mobile network were split off to create a separate operator serving the eastern part of the country.
Meanwhile the political and economic situation remains fraught in Libya following the country's civil war and the ongoing Mediterranean migrant crisis.
For more:
- see this LPTIC release
- see this Reuters article
- see this BuddeComm report
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