TRIPOLI (AFP) — Gulf Finance House (GFH) -- a Bahrain-based Islamic investment bank -- on Sunday unveiled plans for a five-billion-dollar energy sector business hub at Sabratha.
Energy City Libya is the latest in a series of projects, which already includes Energy City locations in Qatar, India and Kazakhstan, the bank said.
The six square-kilometre (2.4-square-mile) coastal development will include a data centre and an environmental, renewable energy and regulatory advisory centre, plus a dedicated cluster for oil and gas producers.
Alongside the business components, the city -- 70 kilometres (43 miles) west of Tripoli -- will include homes, shops and leisure facilities, the company said.
GFH chairman Issam Janahi said the project will be 60 percent financed by his bank and 40 percent by the Libyan economic and social development fund, through a joint venture.
Work is expected to start early next year and construction is likely to take three to five years, he said at a news conference.
The first stage, lasting 18 months, will focus on developing infrastructure at a cost of 400 million dollars. "The bank is working on raising more funds," Janahi said.
With approximately 40 billion barrels of oil, Libya has the largest proven oil reserves in Africa, in addition to considerable gas resources.
Libya is Africa's third biggest oil producer -- pumping around two million barrels a day (bpd).
Tripoli has been seeking foreign investors, to help it reach a target of three million bpd by 2012, Hamed al-Hadhiri, chairman of the Libyan fund, told the news conference.
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