Belqasim Haftar, Director General of the Libya Development and Reconstruction Fund, highlighted the fund’s achievements in the east of the country, speaking in an interview with Agence France-Presse (AFP) about reconstruction successes in his region that would make up for “forty years of neglect” under the rule of the late Colonel Muammar Gaddafi. 

AFP journalists escorted by the Libyan National Army (LNA) led by Haftar saw dozens of construction sites in Benghazi, Derna and Bayda.

"Gaddafi governed Libya for 42 years, and he did not accomplish what we have in two years," Belqasim Haftar told AFP, seated in an office inside a lavish palace in Benghazi according to AFP.

The reconstruction fund was established in 2024 to rebuild Derna with a budget of some $2 billion at the time, before expanding into the Libya Development and Reconstruction Fund.

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Eastern Libya and most of the country's south are firmly controlled by Khalifa Haftar and his sons.

Saddam Haftar, widely seen as his heir apparent, serves as deputy commander of the LNA, while another son, Khaled, is chief of staff.

Libya holds Africa's largest oil reserves at around 48.4 billion barrels, and areas controlled by the family contain most of the oil fields and export terminals.

The reconstruction fund has launched a wave of projects in areas under the control of the eastern administration, aiming to "make up for the lost years" of Gaddafi's reign, Belqasim said.

He said that since Gaddafi's overthrow, sectors such as education and healthcare as well as basic needs have been "completely neglected".

The Haftars' development push comes as they seek to showcase an ability to govern even beyond their areas of control, while the United States reportedly tries to promote a rapprochement between the country's rival authorities.

Responding to accusations that the Haftars are using the fund without oversight and of financial misconduct, Belqasim said: "The number and scale of the projects underway answer the question of where the money is being spent."

"The size of the projects and transparency are reflected in what we have achieved on the ground," he added.

He said every contract signed by the fund is currently "audited by the appropriate authorities" while all payments are processed through the central bank in Tripoli.

'Immense need'

Libya has long faced repression and poverty, both during and after Gaddafi's rule.

Belqasim said the fund has "mended trust between citizens and the state by implementing projects that had been abandoned for years".

On Friday, Belqasim attended a rehearsal for an education sector celebration at Benghazi's newly built stadium.

After posing for selfies with parents and children, a young girl approached him carrying requests from her family on a small piece of paper.

Beyond areas already under the Haftars' control, the reconstruction fund could expand into western Libya, "if the authorities request it", Belqasim said.

He said the region housing the capital, Tripoli, and a large proportion of the Libyan population was in "immense need" for infrastructure.

But tensions between him and Prime Minister Abdelhamid Dabaiba, who leads the Tripoli-based government, would need to ease off.

During the interview, he accused Dabaiba of having "carried out no project on the scale of the Libyan state in the last five years".

And Dabaiba has charged that the eastern administration has been spending off budget in the past three years.

Still, there have been signs of a potential shift.

Last month, the legislative bodies of the rival authorities signed a US-mediated agreement to unify public spending across the divided country for the first time in over a decade.

The deal included investments worth some 20 billion dinars ($3 billion) in western Libya, Belqasim told AFP.

A similar amount was also allocated to the east and south, where the fund seeks to develop further "strategic projects", he added.