Libya: Moroccan BMCE Bank set to attract new investors

Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) announced a deal with Morocco’s Banque Marocaine du Commerce Exterieur (BMCE) to attract new investors in a move defined as slap for the UN-backed Presidential Council.
NOC head Mustafa Sanalla signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with BMCE’s Ibrahim Benjelloun Touimi in Vienna on Friday making the Moroccan bank one of its commercial banks.
The NOC announced on its website that the BMCE will make  “arrangements for financing projects when necessary and attracting new investments in addition to presenting studies and research and providing investigation and information on companies and institutions that wish to register with the National Oil Corporation.”
The NOC’s agreement stands as defiance to the UN-sponsored PC established in Tripoli which few days seized some responsibilities of the oil company. The PC announced it would decide the NOC’s policies and establish oil and gas price.
It is the first time that a Moroccan entity is being involved in Libyan affairs since signing of Libyan Political Accord (LPA) in Skhirat in December 2015.
Late February, the NOC also signed a cooperation framework agreement with Russian oil firm Rosneft for more Russian investment in Libya.
The PC has been haggling control of the NOC with rival government established in the east and supported by the Eastern Libyan army commander, Marshal Khalifa Haftar.
Last month Haftar’s forces drove PC-backed Benghazi Defense Brigades (BDB) out of two Libyan oil terminals seized earlier by the brigades.
In September, Haftar forces managed to seize Libya’s main oil terminals guarded by PC-aligned forces.