An End to the CBL Crisis? Implications for Libya’s Economic Governance

November 14, 2024—the North Africa Initiative (NAI) at the Foreign Policy Institute (FPI) of the Johns Hopkins Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies organized a webinar in partnership with Chatham House.

In August this year, the Libyan Presidency Council moved to replace Libya’s longtime central bank governor, Sadiq al-Kabir. Kabir had been in position since September 2011, and in the period following the administrative division of Libya, he rose to prominence as one of the most influential figures on the Libyan political scene. In the absence of a functioning relationship between executive and legislature, the Central Bank of Libya (CBL) took on many of the competencies of the ministry of finance and became an arbiter of which payments were made and when. In October, following UN-led and parallel back-channel negotiations, a new governor was selected and the CBL board of directors reconstituted.

In this webinar, experts examined the challenges will the new CBL leadership face, potential changes for Libya’s economic governance, and the implications for the balance of power between Libya’s rival power centers.

Speakers

Hafed Al-Ghwell, Senior Fellow and Executive Director, North Africa Initiative at the SAIS Foreign Policy Institute

Stephanie Williams, Former Special Advisor to the UN Secretary General on Libya

Tim Eaton, Senior Research Fellow, Middle East and North Africa Programme,Chatham House

Asma Khalifa (Moderator), Associate Fellow, Middle East and North Africa Programme, Chatham House