TRIPOLI: Libya has Africa’s largest proven oil reserves and only seven million people, but a decade of bloody conflict has left its economy shattered and its population mired in poverty. In recent years, the economy has fallen victim to the violent turmoil that has seen Libya torn apart by two rival administrations and countless militias. Salima Younis, 57, a Tripoli school secretary, said that the past decade had taken a heavy toll on Libyans. When big oil reserves were first discovered in 1959, Libya was still among the world’s poorest nations. But since then “everything concerning Libya has inextricably been linked to oil,” said petroleum industry engineer Al-Mahdi Omar.

Source: Libya Today February 10, 2021 15:33 UTC