In March Libya’s National Council for Economic Development (NCED) signed an agreement with Saudi Arabia’s Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD) to create a fund dedicated to developing new small and  medium enterprises (SMEs) in Libya.

The Central Bank of Libya is underwriting the Bahrain-based Arab Banking Corporation’s (ABC) $1.1bn issue, the bank announced earlier this month.

The Libyan Investment Authority (LIA) bought 1.4% of Rusal stock for $300m through an initial public offering in Hong Kong in late January.

The African Union (AU) says it is considering setting up a new African Investment Bank that would be headquartered in Tripoli, according to reports from Bloomberg.

The Libyan government plans to sell shares in four state companies in 2010 through initial public offerings.

Egypt’s Beltone Securities International, a subsidiary of Beltone Financial Holding, has launched its brokerage operations in Tripoli. Beltone will provide trading services on the Libyan Stock Exchange to Libyan, regional and international clients, becoming the first international brokerage to set up shop in Tripoli.

Libya’s financial services sector might remain in its infancy, but recent signs suggest that the coming five years could see a great deal more interest in the Tripoli bourse, both from Libyan and foreign investors.