Libya Looks to Infrastructure Investment for Stabilization

Infrastructure investment and
counterterrorism are intertwined in the form of a planned port in Libya.
The Guidry Group, which won a 30-year concessionaire agreement from the
Libyan government in 2012, last month released details of a preliminary
feasibility study for the Port of Susah construction, which is slated
for completion in 2022.

The Guidry Group won the $1-billion project after a global
solicitation for proposals by Libya’s Council of Ministers in 2012 and
was selected from among a competitive field of nine international firms
in 2015.

The greenfield port site will be 100 kilometers east of Benghazi and
100 km west of the Egyptian border. With a first-phase completion date
of 2022, the port is intended to be a crossroads in North Africa for
cargo vessels traveling to and from Asia and Europe via the Suez Canal
and to and from the United States, with a capacity of handling 1 million
annual containers. A free-trade zone and logistics center are included
in the plan.

“This is one of the most significant infrastructure investments in
Libya,” says Abdallah Hamed, general manager of Consultancy House, a
nongovernmental Libyan organization. “Nationwide, this port will provide
about 2,500 in employment, will bring economical and financial benefit
to people living around the port and will be the first completely
private seaport in Libya.”

 The planned construction would include a 1,350-meter-long quay and
three 400-m-long berths alongside a channel dredged to 18 m to
accommodate super-sized cargo ships. One of the key goals of the project
is to maximize use of the local labor force and train local management.

Guidry Group, which started in 1985 as a firm handling kidnap and
ransom resolution, security services, and crisis response and
management, has become increasingly focused on the development of
critical infrastructure, including large-scale projects to help revive
war-torn countries, says Michael Guidry, founder and chairman. “What
we’re learning is how to go into a war-stricken country and come up with
solutions. The whole country is really excited about the port. They see
an opportunity for us to help stabilize the country,” he says.

The next steps include a full feasibility study and to finalize the
concession agreement. “The goal is to have the first three berths up and
running within the next two or three years,” says Guidry.

The port is just one of many infrastructure projects that Libya is
planning in hopes of stabilizing its economy and society after years of
conflict, notes Hamed. “Such infrastructure includes airports,
refineries, pipelines that transport oil and gas resources, power
stations, water treatment facilities, and roads and railways,” he says.