Libya's Central Bank sues Zimbabwe over $100 million fuel debt

Libya's central bank has filed a lawsuit in a UK court against Zimbabwe's finance minister and national oil company, seeking to recover more than $100 million in unpaid debt linked to fuel imports dating back more than two decades.

Court documents show the case was filed in November by the Libyan Foreign Bank (LFB), a subsidiary of the Central Bank of Libya, over loans issued under a 2001 credit facility that Zimbabwe is accused of failing to repay. 

A UK High Court judge has given the Zimbabwean defendants until the end of the month to submit their defence.

According to the claim, Zimbabwe's state-owned National Oil Infrastructure Company entered into a $90 million credit agreement with LFB in 2001 and later drew down nearly half of the funds to finance fuel imports from a Dutch firm. LFB says only about $5.5 million has been repaid in installments over the past decade, leaving the outstanding balance, including interest, at more than $100 million.

The Libyan bank alleges Zimbabwean officials have repeatedly acknowledged the debt since 2005. 

Zimbabwe's current finance minister, Mthuli Ncube, has accepted that the case can proceed in the UK after initially challenging the court's jurisdiction.

Neither LFB nor Zimbabwean authorities have commented publicly on the case, which adds to the long-running debt challenges that have weighed on Zimbabwe's economy for decades.