Libya Gains New Development Office
Libya has opened a new AUDA-NEPAD country office in Tripoli, strengthening project preparation, investment coordination and implementation support around Agenda 2063 priorities nationally for sustainable growth.
The African Union Development Agency-NEPAD opened the office under the patronage of Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Mohammed Dbeibah, creating a permanent platform through which the agency can work more closely with Libyan institutions.
During the launch, AUDA-NEPAD CEO Nardos Bekele-Thomas signed a cooperation agreement with Minister of State for African Affairs Fathallah Abdel Latif Al-Zani, establishing a formal framework for future collaboration.
The Tripoli office will work with national institutions to identify development priorities earlier, prepare projects for implementation, mobilise partnerships and address obstacles that can prevent development programmes from moving from planning into delivery.
It will also support Libya in strengthening national planning, monitoring and reporting capacity while working within the African Union’s commitment to a Libyan-led and Libyan-owned pathway towards long-term peace and stability.
Al-Zani said the office provides an opportunity to strengthen cooperation, knowledge exchange and implementation between Libya and AUDA-NEPAD.
“An AUDA-NEPAD office in Tripoli is an important addition to strengthening cooperation and the exchange of expertise and knowledge, and to accelerating the implementation of development programmes and projects,” he said.
He said the office could provide a practical structure through which national institutions and the continental development agency coordinate efforts and turn plans into projects capable of generating benefits for Libya and the wider African continent.
For AUDA-NEPAD, the establishment of country-level capacity is particularly important because implementation of Agenda 2063 ultimately depends on what happens within individual African states.
“Agenda 2063 cannot be implemented from the African Union alone. It must be owned, implemented and sustained within our Member States, and that is where its hardest obstacles and greatest opportunities lie,” Bekele-Thomas said.
She highlighted project preparation as one of the central challenges facing development across Africa.
“Too many sound projects across Africa stall at the preparation stage, long before investors are ready to commit. A pipeline remains in the list of intentions until projects are prepared, financed and built,” she said.
The opening follows approximately two years of cooperation between AUDA-NEPAD and Libya.
During that period, Libya established a Permanent Committee for Monitoring and Implementing Agenda 2063, chaired by Dr Mohamed Al-Fadil Jibran.
The country completed its first biennial national implementation report under the Second Ten-Year Implementation Plan in 2025 and has hosted capacity-building sessions focused on Agenda 2063 monitoring and reporting.
The second round, held in August 2026, expanded participation to officials from other African countries, creating an early example of Libya positioning itself as a platform for continental knowledge exchange.
That role is expected to expand further through plans for the first Continental Conference of National Planning Authorities.
AUDA-NEPAD and Libya are jointly preparing the event for Tripoli, with the conference tentatively scheduled for early 2027.
Bekele-Thomas said national planning institutions are critical because they are where continental ambitions are translated into expenditure, programmes and implementable projects.
“Planning authorities are where Agenda 2063 becomes budgets, programmes and projects,” she said.
The intention is for the conference to develop into a recurring platform through which African planning authorities share knowledge, experience and approaches to implementation, with Libya serving as convener.
AUDA-NEPAD modelling also identifies significant potential gains for Libya if implementation of Agenda 2063 accelerates.
Economic growth could reach between 5% and 6% by 2033, compared with approximately 2.4% under a scenario in which the economy remains heavily dependent on hydrocarbons.
Fixed broadband subscriptions could increase from 7.7 to 24.7 per 100 people, while secondary-school enrolment could rise from 66% to almost 80%.
The modelling also suggests maternal mortality could fall from 74.4 to 56.4 per 100,000 live births, while dependence on agricultural imports could decrease from 68.3% to 54.4%.
Libya’s geographic position also gives the office a wider regional development dimension.
The country borders six African states and provides a potential connection between North Africa and the Sahel, making transport, energy and cross-border infrastructure important components of its development role.
Among the major projects under consideration is the Two Transit Corridors Project, which would connect Misrata to Agadez in Niger while creating another route from Benghazi through Kufra towards Sudan.
The proposed Libyan Alternative Freeway could serve approximately two million people and carry an estimated 30% to 40% of national freight.
Energy integration is another priority.
The Egypt-Libya Regional Electrical Interconnection could enable power exchanges of up to 1,000 megawatts, while the Libya-Tunisia section of the ELTAM interconnector is designed to add another 1,000 megawatts to a broader North African electricity corridor.
Three of the infrastructure projects are already included in the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa pipeline coordinated by AUDA-NEPAD.
Moving those projects closer to financing will provide an early test of whether the new country office can shorten the distance between development planning and implementation.
“Libya has shown the will. AUDA-NEPAD brings the tools, and the commitment to stay the course with you,” Bekele-Thomas said.
For Libya, the value of the new office will ultimately be measured by whether stronger planning, project preparation and continental partnerships result in infrastructure, investment and services that reach communities.
For AUDA-NEPAD, Tripoli offers another opportunity to bring Agenda 2063 closer to the institutions responsible for turning Africa’s long-term development ambitions into projects that can actually be financed, built and sustained.
