Nearly 14 years after the overthrow and killing of Libya’s longtime strongman, Col. Muammar Qaddafi, the country remains mired in economic chaos despite its vast oil wealth.

Yet signs of hope are beginning to emerge. Last month, some 250 business executives representing 90 companies gathered at Washington’s Ritz-Carlton Hotel for the Libyan-American Forum for Development and Reconstruction.

The April 28-29 event, co-hosted by the Fund for Development and Reconstruction of Libya (FDRL) and the US-Libya Business Association, featured keynote speaker Belqassim Haftar, general manager of the FDRL.

Haftar said the rebuilding of bridges, schools, housing and other critical infrastructure is the fund’s most important achievement in reviving Libya’s economy, which is 95% dependent on oil exports.

The event, in which The Washington Diplomat participated as a media sponsor, concluded with the signing of several memoranda of understanding in the fields of education, health, finance, infrastructure, technology and AI.

Massad Boulos, Trump’s senior advisor on Africa—and father-in-law of Trump’s daughter, Tiffany—said mutually beneficial investment in Libya is a top priority of the administration.

“Our participation today is a testament to that,” said the Lebanese-American tycoon. “Doing business in Libya has not been easy, but support by the US and others in the international community on behalf of unifying Libyan institutions will make for a better investment climate and a better partner for America.”

Both the US Department of Commerce and Libyan External Office in neighboring Tunisia can help support US business activity in Libya, whose 7.5 million inhabitants once boasted the highest per-capita income in Africa. But that was before the country’s civil war and the near-complete breakdown of its energy-based economy.

Right now, infrastructure is Libya’s most urgent need—especially in the wake of the catastrophic September 2023 dam collapse sparked by the deadliest Mediterranean cyclone in recorded history. Storm Daniel ravaged Greece, Bulgaria and Turkey before moving southward and making landfall near Benghazi.

The collapse of the Derna Dam and the nearby Abu Mansour Dam released 39 million cubic yards of water on the port city of Derna. Entire neighborhoods were swept out to sea, killing up to 24,000 people in the process. This made it the second-deadliest dam failure in history after China’s Banqiao Dam collapse in 1975.

Derna is no stranger to disaster. It was the scene of fierce fighting before and after the 2011 fall of the Qaddafi regime. And for the five-year period between 2014 and 2019, Derna was in the grip of armed militas aligned with ISIS, until its liberation by forces loyal to Belqassim’s father, Gen. Khalifa Haftar.

Even before the failure of Derna’s two dams, the city’s infrastructure was in dire condition. Conference attendees saw evidence of that through a series of photographs, as well as a video broadcasts of the raging torrent that shocked the world.

A robust reconstruction effort ensued, led by the building of new houses, schools and signature projects such the restoration of al-Hareesh Hospital and al-Shahaba Mosque. In addition, the city’s al-Sahaba Bridge was rebuilt over the city’s riverbed, which was widened by the floodwaters.

“No one thought we could do what we did in one year,” said Kent Dahlgren, chief information and technology officer at Florida-based Terra Global Developments. He said this success story should spur further foreign direct investment as well as give Libyan citizens hope.

Several hundred projects are now underway in Derna, including the completion of a 3,500-unit housing project to aid the estimated 30,000 people displaced by the dam collapse.

Yet civil unrest and lack of financing are the biggest roadblocks to reconstruction in Libya.

“There are limits to what the government, via public financing, can do,” said panelist Mohamed al-Hassadi. “It is a matter of fine tuning what we have and encouraging the private sector to come forward. Nothing is impossible when there is the will to do it.

Eric Lundgren is vice-president of global operations at Blumont, a nonprofit agency based in Arlington, Va., and formerly known as International Relief and Development Inc. Blumont works in 40 countries—primarily in Africa and the Middle East—helping communities recover from conflict and natural disaster. It has implemented more than 300 programs from Colombia to Kosovo, Afghanistan to Yemen—emphasizing the needs of local populations

“Simply dumping money on a problem, doesn’t solve anything,” said Lundgren. He also addressed the importance of accountability, saying “As resources are being allocated it is important to follow up in ensuring that they are being used appropriately.”

Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Mike Nagata, former commander of US Special Operations Command-Central, is now an international business consultant. Noting that Libya is key to the entire region, he said the likelihood of failure rises significantly when security professionals and those engaged in development work cannot get along.

He added that while the concept of “integration” may sound mundane, the reality is that people working in development need to see and understand firsthand how dangerous and complicated the security environment really is, and vice-versa.

Similarly, Libyan forces and the US Africa Command (AFRICOM) have increased cooperation in promoting interoperability as well as regional maritime security and counterterrorism.

In April, the USS Mount Whitney—a Blue Ridge-class command and control vessel, and flagship of the Sixth Fleet—brought fleet commander and Vice Admiral Jeffrey T. Anderson; Jeremy Brent, chargé d’affaires ad interim of the US Embassy in Tripoli; and Richard Norland, US special envoy for Libya, to the North African country.

According to a joint AFRICOM and US Embassy press release, the two stops—in Tripoli and Benghazi—“underscores America’s commitment to a unified, stable and sovereign Libya through military-to-military engagements and diplomatic outreach.”

Norland, who served as US ambassador to Libya from August 2019 to September 2022, said US engagement with the North African country is beginning to pick up amid ongoing talks with the World Bank.

Added Hafter: “Libya will rise like a phoenix again.”