Libya buying influence in Uganda and all over Africa

Recently free of years of UN sanctions, Qaddafi has been quietly buying influence . Using the 1.6 Billion barrels of oil Libya pumps per day.

The latest purchase of 51% by Uganda Telecom Limited (UTL) with 49 percent ownership retained by the Uganda government, gives them access into the inner workings of government and even policy, since the government now has a vested interest in making sure UTL dominates the local market.

The company also recently bought Tri Star Garments,

Libya's highest profile state owned oil company Tamoil won the 90 Million $ (US) oil pipeline between Uganda and Kenya(US) apparently without due diligence.

This is very interesting since in 2005 Tamoil was cash starved, and put a 60% ownership up for bid. It is not clear who bought them out, but they now seem to have lots of cash.


Libya has recently built a 5 star hotel on the banks of the Nile in Sudan. Locals call it "Qaddafi's Egg".

In July, 2004 Tamoil said it had agreed to buy Exxon Mobil's products and storage facilities in Niger, giving the Libyans control of jet fuel supplies to their
neighbor's two main airports.

This controls jet fuel to all the airports in Niger

It bought Royal Dutch/Shell's distribution assets in Eritrea, in northeast Africa,
It Controls more than 50% of the country's gasoline market

Expanding Libya's portfolio in Africa has been a primary focus for Tamoil, a 100%-owned subsidiary of Oilinvest, the Netherlands Antilles-based group established in 1988 as the oil investment arm of the Libyan government.

In a 2004 visit to Nigeria, an Oilinvest team expressed interest in buying either the Port Harcourt or Warri refineries, and setting up its own distribution network.

The group is also a majority shareholder in Odex Exploration, a joint venture with UK independent Soco and Russia's Gazprom eyeing upstream ventures in North Africa, including Libya.