The government of Libya announced that the state-owned mobile operator Libyana will be listed publicly next year.
Local newspapers reported that the Telecommunication and Information Technology Company (LPTIC), which owns both the country’s mobile operators, al-Madar and Libyana, will put the company up in 2014 in an effort to generate more income and open markets.
Libyana generates an annual revenue in excess of $1 billion and has about 70 percent of the market.
LPTIC chairman Faisal Gergarb said the Company “wants to carry out an IPO in Tripoli in 2014, adding that the time frame is the second quarter.”
Gergarb added that all this “depends on whether the stock exchange is ready and on Libyana as well.”
No further details were given on the time frame or what the overall value of the IPO would be.
Gergab did say that the LPTIC “plans to use Al Madar as a platform to invest internationally. The two operators have some 10 million subscribers.”
Libya’s telecoms ministry has already announced plans to launch a tender next year to award the country’s first private mobile phone license.
* Image via Shutterstock
Joseph Mayton
