Libya hosts trade fair as firms eye reconstruction contracts

A vast trade fair was opened Monday in Libya's capital Tripoli for firms looking to take part in the oil-rich country's reconstruction after a decade of violence.

Libya Build, which organisers are billing as the biggest construction expo in North Africa, hopes to gather 500 exhibitors and 14,000 visitors at the Tripoli International Fair exhibition centre.

It comes a year after a formal ceasefire which ended fighting that had devastated neighbourhoods on the edge of capital.

The truce between rival camps in the east and west of the country paved the way to a UN-led peace process and a unity government charged with leading the country to December 24 elections.

Investors are hoping that peace will allow them to embark on huge rebuilding projects in a country with Africa's largest proven crude oil reserves.

"Libya is entering a phase of stability, which allows reconstruction to begin," said Khalid al-Badawi, commercial director of a Turkish-Libyan real estate firm.

Libya fell into a decade of violence after an uprising that toppled and killed dictator Moamer Kadhafi, and the years of war have caused an estimated $100 million-worth of damage, according to Libyan economists and press reports.

Tripoli, heavily damaged by eastern military chief Khalifa Haftar's year-long assault, is suffering an acute housing shortage.

Unlike state-led development under Kadhafi, Badawi said that "private companies are set to play an important role" in reconstruction.