What this is about
The memorandum signed at the Italy–Libya Business Forum in Tripoli on 29 October 2024 is often read as a credit line reserved for Libya. It is not: the €200 million is the continental ceiling of the Africa Measure, the Fund 394/81 instrument for strengthening African markets. What the agreement between SIMEST, Libyan Foreign Bank and the Italian-Libyan Chamber of Commerce adds is an access channel to that ceiling, built around the specific conditions of the Libyan market.
This point is not marginal. In Libya, there are no direct transfers from Italy: every payment passes through banking correspondence, and, for Libyan companies, from August 2026 the ceiling on letters of credit is tied to the applicant's fiscal capacity. Subsidised financing that does not also resolve this issue remains unworkable on the ground. This is where the banking component of the agreement — the properly Libyan part — becomes as decisive as the interest rate.
The terms are the standard ones for the Africa Measure: a rate of 0.371%, a six-year duration including two years' grace period, a grant contribution of 10% up to €100,000 (rising to 20% up to €200,000 for Southern Italy, start-ups and innovative SMEs), disbursed in three tranches. At least 60% of the programme must translate into fixed assets, including on Italian territory: the measure finances the company's capacity to remain in the market, not just the single contract.
The procedure is first-come, first-served, with no ranking list: whoever submits a solid file gains access to the ceiling in the order in which the application is processed. As of June 2026, over €100 million had already been approved out of the continental total, which progressively narrows the useful window without, however, introducing rigid deadlines.
For an Italian company, the most direct route to eligibility often runs through the supply chain: being a supplier or sub-supplier to an EPC or contractor already awarded a Libyan reconstruction programme. This is the third route provided for under the measure's regulations, less well known than the direct application but often quicker to process when a commercial relationship with the main contractor already exists.
