Libya Mine Action Support Group Renews Commitment

Libya Mine Action Support Group Renews Commitment

Libya Mine Action Support Group Renews Commitment

The Libya Mine Action Support Group has renewed its commitment to continue supporting national efforts aimed at clearing the country of war remnants and enhancing the safety of civilians in affected areas across the country.

The UN Mission in Libya stated that the Support Group held its second annual meeting, where representatives from ten countries affirmed that mine action "constitutes a fundamental pillar for protecting civilians, promoting stability, and building sustainable peace in Libya."

The meeting was attended by diplomatic and military representatives from the European Union, Egypt, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Qatar, the Republic of Korea, Tunisia, Turkey, and the United Kingdom; with the aim of strengthening international coordination and unifying support for mine action efforts in Libya.

The Italian Ambassador to Libya, Gianluca Alberini, hosted the meeting at the embassy headquarters in Tripoli and co-chaired it with the Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Resident Coordinator at the UN Support Mission in Libya, Ullrika Richardson.

Discussions focused on "the humanitarian, social, economic, and security repercussions of explosive war remnants," as well as "the risks of unsafe ammunition storage, including the ongoing threats posed by ammunition depots located near residential areas to civilians across the country."

Ammunition depots have exploded more than once within barracks belonging to armed factions in cities in western Libya, especially Misrata. In September 2025, citizens demonstrated in Misrata demanding the removal of arms and ammunition depots from their area and their transfer to locations far from residential communities.

According to reports from the Libyan Mine Action Center, more than 688 million square meters of confirmed or suspected contaminated areas have been identified across Libya since 2011; which continues to negatively affect residential areas, agricultural lands, and vital infrastructure.

Since May 2020, mine and explosive ordnance incidents have caused 487 casualties, including 175 killed and 312 injured, among them 87 children. Participants in the meeting affirmed the importance of intensifying coordination to prevent further humanitarian tragedies resulting from explosive ordnance in Libya.

Participants also noted that mine action efforts in Libya continue to face significant challenges, most notably limited technical capabilities, difficulties in accessing some areas, and a lack of funding compared to the scale of contamination from war remnants in Libya.

Despite the clearance and handover of approximately 219 million square meters of land through survey and clearance operations since the ceasefire in 2020, contamination by war remnants continues to directly affect civilians in several areas, including southern Tripoli, Misrata, Sirte, Gharyan and Mizdah, as well as Benghazi, Tobruk, Murzuq and Sebha.

Participants emphasized the importance of consolidating national ownership and strengthening Libyan leadership in mine action, as well as ensuring continued international support for these Libyan-led efforts, through capacity building, strengthening bilateral cooperation, and supporting national institutions working in mine action and safe arms and ammunition management.

They also stressed the need to coordinate international efforts and unify supporting messages and positions, in line with national priorities, and to contribute to enhancing the effectiveness of Libyan efforts under national leadership.

In this context, participants affirmed the need to give greater attention to mine action and safe ammunition management issues within the framework of the International Security Working Group stemming from the Berlin process.

Ambassador Alberini praised the efforts made to address the threat posed by explosive war remnants and explosive ordnance across the country, commending the response led by the Libyan Mine Action Center, in cooperation with its partners and with the support of the UN mission, following the explosion of a munition depot in Misrata in August 2025.

The explosion resulted from the ignition of munitions inside a depot located in a densely populated residential area, causing a massive explosion. The incident caused damage extending within a radius of three to four kilometers, resulting in injuries to at least 21 people, as well as damage to a number of commercial buildings and residential homes.

Alberini said: "We witnessed at the explosion site a great deal of professionalism and efficiency in carrying out explosive remnant removal operations and unexploded ordnance risk awareness activities."

Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Resident Coordinator Richardson also recalled the message of the UN Secretary-General on the occasion of the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action 2026, under the theme: "Invest in Peace, Invest in Mine Action," calling for continued efforts to reduce the risks posed by ammunition storage within residential areas, enhance the protection of civilians, including children, and accelerate recovery and development.

Landmines have claimed many victims in Libya, especially children, particularly in areas that have witnessed wars and clashes.

Economic Policy and Interest Rates in Egypt

The ongoing escalation in the region and the difficulties in predicting a settlement to the Iranian war are disrupting bets on interest rate cuts in Egypt, after the Egyptian Central Bank resorted to keeping the "interest rate" unchanged for the second consecutive time.

According to economists, it is "difficult to bet on interest rate cuts amid the uncertainty in the region," and they indicated that "it is likely that the interest rate will be raised at the next meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee if regional conditions persist."

The Monetary Policy Committee of the Central Bank of Egypt decided at its meeting on Thursday evening to "keep interest rates unchanged," and the committee indicated in a statement that "the decision was consistent with the committee's view of the latest inflation developments and expectations, in light of an external environment characterized by uncertainty."

According to the decision, the overnight deposit and lending rates and the central bank's main operation rate will be kept at 19.00%, 20.00%, and 19.50% respectively, in addition to "keeping the credit and discount rate at 19.50%," according to the Central Bank.

This is the second time the "Central Bank" has decided to keep the interest rate unchanged after the committee's decision in April to keep deposit and lending rates unchanged, in the wake of the repercussions of the Iranian war, ending a series of gradual interest rate reductions from their high levels that began in April 2025.

The Monetary Policy Committee holds its regular meeting every six weeks, with five more meetings scheduled for the current year, amid market anticipation of developments in inflation, exchange rates, and global energy prices.

According to Walid Gaballah, a member of the Egyptian Economic and Legislative Association, "the escalation in the region and the unresolved issue of the Iranian war are causing confusion among those responsible for monetary policy."

Gaballah told "Asharq Al-Awsat" that "there are difficulties in setting economic criteria that can be relied upon in plans for expanding investments in food and fertilizers," noting that "the global economic map is almost stalled until the vision becomes clear at the regional and international levels."

Gaballah believed that "it is difficult to bet on interest rate cuts in Egypt, given the uncertainty in the region," adding that "the Central Bank cannot cut interest rates at the present time due to the impact of this decision on increasing inflation rates," pointing out that "inflation will rise significantly if interest rates are cut, as a result of some deposits and savings being withdrawn for consumption activities."

Egypt's inflation rate slightly decreased last month after recording an annual rate of 14.9% in Egyptian cities, compared to about 15.2% in March, while it decreased monthly to 1.1% in April, compared to 3.2% in March, according to data from the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics.

Gaballah believes that the "Central Bank's" decision to keep interest rates unchanged is a "natural choice in light of expectations of a global economic slowdown," and points out that "the Monetary Policy Committee" saw that "the current inflation rates in the markets are a temporary development due to the rise in energy and electricity prices in the wake of the Iranian war."

Economic expert Mostafa Badra believes that "the option of cutting interest rates is no longer on the table given the economic damage of the Iranian war and the decline in growth rates according to international economic institutions' estimates."

He told "Asharq Al-Awsat" that "the rise in inflation rates due to the disruption of energy supply chains has led the Central Bank to keep interest rates unchanged," and indicated that "it is likely that the interest rate will be raised at the next meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee if the current uncertainty persists."

He explained that "the government aims through keeping interest rates unchanged to maintain the level of monetary tightening to control inflation in the markets," and pointed out that "the decision to keep rates unchanged contributes to slowing down the movement of liquidity in the markets."

Badra considered that this "contributes to preventing an exaggerated rise in commodity prices in the markets, amid the existing supply chain challenges."

Real Estate Market Regulation in Egypt

The Egyptian government is moving to regulate the real estate market through legislation that governs the relationship between real estate developers on one hand, and unit buyers on the other, amid increasing complaints of some developers' failure to complete their projects, negatively affecting the reputation of the growing real estate market.

This trend comes at a time when Prime Minister Dr. Mostafa Madbouly emphasized "the utmost importance the government attaches to monitoring this market, as it is one of the essential tributaries of the national economy," during his meeting with Minister of Housing Randa El Menshawi and a number of sector officials on Thursday.

Madbouly added, according to an official statement, that "the government aims to maintain growth rates in this vital sector and deal with any challenges in it, to ensure the achievement of the targeted governance and discipline, and to achieve a full balance between the rights of all parties, from the state and investors (real estate developers), and citizens who have booked units; to ensure the sustainability of the real estate sector and protect it from any undisciplined practices by some."

The Egyptian real estate market is considered one of the fastest-growing and developing markets in the last decade, driven by official directives to expand it with a number of mega-projects, most notably the New Administrative Capital project.

The volume of the real estate market in Egypt reached $18.04 billion (the dollar equals about 53 Egyptian pounds) in 2023, with expectations that it will exceed $30 billion in 2028, at an annual growth rate of 10.96%, according to the Cabinet Information Center, citing the global firm "Mordor Intelligence."

A Step to Protect the Market

Several specialists in the Egyptian real estate market welcomed the government's recent move to govern this market, considering it a necessary step to protect it, even if it was delayed, "it should have accompanied the significant growth in this market 10 years ago."

Real estate marketer and co-founder of "Hub Empire" company, Anas El Kilany, told "Asharq Al-Awsat" that the reputation of the Egyptian real estate market has been affected recently after many developers failed to complete projects, making some buyers feel they were victims of fraud, noting that some of these projects are in the New Administrative Capital itself, where government facilities have attracted many developers to invest in projects there, without them having sufficient financial solvency.

The new draft law for the governance and regulation of the real estate development sector will include "the establishment of an official entity for real estate developers and their classification according to specific standards and controls. This is part of the state's efforts to enhance the investment environment, preserve this important sector, and protect citizens' rights," according to Minister of Housing Randa El Menshawi.

She indicated that "specific controls will be approved to avoid the entry of any real estate developer who does not have sufficient financial or technical solvency to implement projects, and includes commitment to specified delivery dates, to prevent any defaults that may harm the sector's reputation."

Real estate marketer Anas El Kilany believes that "setting controls of this type will positively affect the sector, its growth, and attracting foreign investors," suggesting that the controls include mechanisms to address the current or expected situation of defaults, such as the government intervening to complete stalled projects, in exchange for the New Urban Communities Authority obtaining the project's rights from the developer.

Impact of Inflation on Construction

Real estate expert Abdel Majeed Jado attributed the repeated delays in real estate unit delivery dates in recent years to inflation and its impact on construction, especially in light of developers' insufficient financial capacity to cover projects, and their reliance on booking down payments and installments for this purpose.

Egypt recorded an annual inflation rate of 14.9% in April, compared to 15.2% in March.

Jado stressed in his conversation with "Asharq Al-Awsat" the necessity for the new legislation to include all technical and engineering aspects related to projects, not just delivery operations, especially with some developers theoretically offering units with large areas, while the unit ultimately turns out to be far from these standards.

Mahmoud Sami, a specialist in real estate development and development sector manager at several Egyptian companies, praises the recent official move to regulate the market, considering it a long-overdue move, adding: "There are governing controls for large real estate markets in Turkey, the UAE, Canada, and elsewhere, while laws in Egypt have been limited to either construction controls and obtaining building permits, or the necessity of constructing 30% of the property before starting to sell its units, which does not happen in practice."

Sami said in his conversation with "Asharq Al-Awsat" that it is necessary to establish an entity for developers similar to a syndicate, to confront market chaos, explaining that "the title of real estate developer should not be attached to anyone; it is linked to sustainability and strategic vision for developing the place and expanding into new cities, and setting a plan for its development and making the real estate asset retain its value while achieving continuous increases, which is not related to residential units only, but to services. This is contrary to the work of a contractor who seeks only profit."

The Minister of Housing had noted during her meeting with Madbouly that the proposed organizational structure for the real estate developers' entity is based on a regulated model, similar in its mechanisms and controls to the Egyptian Union of Construction and Building Contractors, including the classification of real estate developers according to specific criteria.

She also stressed the existence of a package of strict contracts and internal regulations at the New Urban Communities Authority, ensuring the handling of any violations by any real estate developer; to guarantee the rights of the state and citizens, and enhance the competitiveness of the Egyptian real estate market at the regional and global levels.