Model for Libya’s economic growth

Last Updated : Monday, January 21, 2013 9:30 AM

P.K. SemlerLibya Herald

Almost a year ago, chief executive Paolo Scaroni of ENI, the oil and gas giant, traveled to Libya with Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti and Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi di Sant’Agata and promised $400-million in much-needed funds to help rebuild critical infrastructure such as hospitals, transport and schools.

The announcement was made on the sidelines during a visit by Monti and Terzi San Agata to Tripoli to meet with Libyan Prime Minister Abdurrahim Al Kib.

Unfortunately, the funds never arrived and when asked shortly-after by the news agency Capitol Intelligence during a briefing with foreign journalists in Milan why the money was never allocated, Scaroni simply replied: “The Libyan government never asked for it.”

Fast forward to last month: Scaroni returned to Tripoli on December 17 to meet with new Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zidan and once again announced that ENI would hand-over the promised $400 million as part of the company’s plan to invest $8 billion in Libyan oil and gas production over the next decade.

No-one in Libya should read this as an act of charity on the part of ENI, but more of a very shrewd investment decision by no-nonsense manager Scaroni, who as the largest operator in Libya, understands that ENI must demonstrate that the oil giant is a good corporate citizen and committed to Libya’s future.

Prime Minister Zidan and his government must now show themselves to be equally shrewd by having ENI earmark the $400 million into a public-private economic development agency with the sole purpose of promoting private sector growth in Libya.

As a general rule of thumb, every dollar spent on economic development and business promotion should bring a minimum return of $10 or more. Economic promotion agencies such as the Jordan Investment Board (JIB) or that of the economic development agency of Pennsylvania bring a return of $20 or so and sometimes more.

In our small part, we started to promote Libya with a Tunisia-Libya Infrastructure Investment Forum held in Djerba last February and I was able to convince Fleming Gulf CEO Martin Valvosky to join forces and not cancel the Libyan Summit held on November 22 in Tripoli. Following the murder of US Ambassador Chris Stevens, Fleming Gulf had been advised by NATO and other non-business organizations to cancel or move the investment conference out of Libya due to perceived “security” risks.

The Fleming Gulf conference, the first held with the new government, was a huge success with companies such as America’s Cisco, Germany’s SAP, UK’s Barclays and Europe’s largest private equity investment fund Terra Firma all coming to Tripoli for three days to look at investment opportunities.

Masshole Sports ‏@MassholeSports

This weekend is going to be friggin awesome #Patriotspic.twitter.com/tXDWsPZ9

Expand
18 Jan84Chris Mortensen ‏@mortreport

Sources: NFC and AFC championship games to be played Sunday. 49ers at Falcons in NFC. Ravens at Patriots in AFC.#readyforsomefootball

Expand
18 Jan82ESPN Stats & Info ‏@ESPNStatsInfo

A Patriots win would give Bill Belichick 6 Super Bowl appearances, tying Don Shula's record for most by a head coach.

Expand
18 Jan63Patriots Updates ‏@GlobePatriots

"They talk a lot for beating us once in nine years." - Tom Brady on the Ravens| http://b.globe.com/13LseQR #patriots

Expand