Shaban Whiba: Building Libya’s Food Manufacturing and Industrial Capacity

Shaban Whiba is a Libyan businessman and CEO of Whiba Holding, a family-owned group with operations spanning food manufacturing, agriculture, distribution, construction, healthcare, energy, electronic services and other industries. He has served as CEO since 2009, according to the Arab-British Chamber of Commerce, although his involvement with the family business began earlier.

Food manufacturing has become one of the clearest expressions of the group’s development under his leadership. Whiba Holding now operates mills, silos, warehouses and food-production complexes across several Libyan cities, producing flour, pasta, couscous, semolina, rice, vegetable oil, tomato products, beverages, animal feed and other goods.

That industrial footprint makes Shaban Whiba particularly relevant to one of Libya’s central economic problems. The country imports a large share of what it consumes, but domestic companies can still capture more of the processing, packaging, storage and distribution that sits between imported raw materials and the finished product.

Whiba’s story is therefore not simply about the expansion of one family business. It is also about how a Libyan private company can move a larger share of economic activity inside the country by investing in productive capacity rather than relying only on trade.

Who Is Shaban Whiba?

Shaban Whiba is the CEO of Whiba Holding and a graduate of the University of Tripoli. The Arab-British Chamber of Commerce describes him as having more than two decades of experience managing and developing businesses across multiple industries and says he has served as CEO of Whiba Holding since 2009.

His connection to the group goes back further. The 2022 Choiseul 100 Africa ranking identified Whiba as having worked with Whiba Holding since 2002. In that year’s edition, the Institut Choiseul ranked him first among its 100 young African business leaders, listing him as general manager of Whiba Holding. African Business also reported his position at the top of the ranking.

Whiba Holding itself predates Shaban’s leadership. According to the company’s official history, the business traces its origins to 1987, when the late Musbah Whiba established operations in agriculture, livestock and poultry, animal feed and building-material trading. The family business later expanded into food imports, manufacturing and other sectors.

That distinction is important because Shaban Whiba did not found the group. His role has been to develop an established family enterprise into a broader industrial and commercial organization. The company’s own history records a significant expansion of manufacturing capacity after the second generation assumed management responsibilities, with food production, storage, distribution and industrial investment becoming increasingly important parts of the portfolio.

Why Food Manufacturing Became Central to Whiba Holding

Food manufacturing provides one of the clearest connections between private investment and Libya’s wider economy because the country depends heavily on imports for food and agricultural commodities. That dependence cannot be removed simply by building factories, since wheat and other commodities will continue to be imported where domestic production cannot meet demand.

The more practical economic question is what happens after those commodities arrive in Libya.

A country can import finished pasta, flour, vegetable oil and other consumer products, or it can import some of the underlying commodities and perform more of the processing domestically. The second model creates substantially more economic activity inside the country because grain must be stored, wheat has to be milled, pasta must be manufactured and packaged, factories require maintenance, and finished products need warehousing, transport and distribution.

This is where Whiba Holding’s food businesses become economically relevant. The group says its production network includes facilities in Tripoli, Benghazi, Misrata, Dafniya, Sabha, Zliten and Tajoura, with products covering staples such as flour, rice, pasta, couscous, vegetable oil and tomato paste, alongside beverages and other manufactured foods.

That is a very different economic model from importing finished products and moving them directly from ports to retail shelves. Domestic processing retains a larger share of the value chain inside Libya and creates industrial activity around production, logistics and distribution.

The Dafniya Food Industries Complex

One of the most visible projects associated with Whiba Holding’s industrial expansion is the Dafniya Complex for Food Industries.

The complex brings several forms of food processing together in one industrial location, including activities involving wheat, rice, oils, tomato products, pasta, couscous, semolina and other foods. Whiba Holding provides details of those operations through its food and beverage manufacturing portfolio.

In 2023, the group officially inaugurated a major pasta, couscous and semolina factory at Dafniya. Whiba Holding described the facility as the largest of its kind in North Africa. That description comes from the company itself, but the scale and public significance of the project were reflected in the attendance of senior Libyan officials at the official opening, including the prime minister of the Government of National Unity, the governor of the Central Bank of Libya and several ministers and economic officials.

The economic importance of a project such as Dafniya is easier to understand by looking beyond the production line. A pasta factory depends on grain supply, storage capacity, milling, packaging materials, machinery, technicians, quality control, transport and distribution. When more of those functions are performed domestically, the factory generates economic activity across a much wider network of companies and workers.

Importing a finished packet of pasta creates activity through shipping, wholesale and retail. Manufacturing the same product inside Libya adds an industrial layer before the product reaches the consumer, which is precisely why domestic processing matters for a country trying to broaden its productive base.

Building a Food Production Network Across Libya

Dafniya is only one part of Whiba Holding’s food-manufacturing footprint. The company also lists Al Imtiyaz Food Complex in Benghazi, Wadi Al Rabie, Al Mowsem and the United Group for Mills and Feeds among its major investments.

Whiba Holding says Al Imtiyaz produces wheat products, rice and vegetable oil, while other facilities within the group cover activities ranging from flour and grain processing to animal feed and cold storage. Its food-manufacturing overview shows a network that extends beyond one flagship factory and into several parts of Libya.

The group’s corporate timeline also shows how this network developed. Whiba Holding says it added 10 flour factories and three animal-feed factories in 2014, established Homy as a dedicated food-distribution business in 2016, expanded into beverages in 2017 and later acquired or developed further grain and flour facilities before adding more manufacturing capacity in 2023.

Distribution is especially important because manufacturing capacity has limited value if products cannot move efficiently from factories to wholesalers, retailers and consumers. By building production, storage and distribution within the same wider group, Whiba Holding has developed a more integrated food business than a standalone factory would provide.

The result is a domestic supply network that links industrial production with logistics and market access across several parts of Libya.

From Import Substitution to Exports

Domestic food production is often discussed primarily in terms of import substitution, which is understandable in a country that remains heavily dependent on imported food.

If a product previously imported as a finished good can instead be manufactured locally, some of the economic activity that once occurred abroad moves inside Libya. Factories, workers, logistics providers and distributors participate in a larger share of the final product’s value.

Import substitution, however, is only part of the potential story.

According to Whiba Holding’s company history, the group began exporting food products internationally in 2023. That development matters because selling manufactured goods abroad represents a different form of economic diversification from simply reducing imports.

Import substitution asks whether Libya can manufacture more of what Libyans already consume. Exports ask whether Libyan factories can produce goods that consumers in other markets are willing to buy.

The second challenge is considerably harder because exporters have to compete on price, quality, reliability and logistics against manufacturers in other countries. For Libya, that provides a more demanding test of industrial competitiveness.

The country still earns the overwhelming majority of its export income from hydrocarbons, so food exports from one private group are not remotely comparable in scale. The relevant point is whether Libyan manufacturers can gradually create additional products through which the country participates in international trade.

Shaban Whiba and Libya’s Food Security Debate

Food security is sometimes discussed as though it requires a country to produce everything it consumes domestically. For Libya, that is not realistic because climate, water constraints and agricultural capacity mean the country will continue importing substantial quantities of food and agricultural commodities.

Domestic industry still has an important role.

There is a significant economic difference between relying on imported wheat and relying on imported flour, pasta and every other product made from it. Processing more commodities inside Libya creates industrial capacity that remains useful even when the raw materials themselves originate abroad.

It also gives domestic companies more involvement in storage, production, packaging and distribution, which can become particularly important when international food markets are volatile or shipping conditions deteriorate.

A Libyan manufacturer cannot eliminate global commodity-price shocks, but domestic processing capacity gives the economy more options over how imported commodities are stored, transformed and distributed before reaching consumers.

Whiba Holding’s industrial strategy fits into that middle ground. It does not amount to food self-sufficiency, nor should it be presented that way. It represents an effort to perform a larger share of the food value chain inside Libya.

That distinction makes Shaban Whiba’s contribution to Libya’s food industry more economically relevant than simply counting how many brands or subsidiaries sit inside the group.

Beyond Food Manufacturing

Food is central to Whiba Holding, but the group is considerably more diversified. Its business portfolio extends into construction, healthcare, automotive distribution, electronic and financial services, renewable energy, animal feed, logistics and other activities.

The group’s corporate history records the establishment of UNIPAY for financial and electronic services in 2021 and Cayan Company for Renewable Energy in 2022, alongside continued expansion in manufacturing and other sectors.

Shaban Whiba also serves as chairman of LIGOS, according to the energy-services company’s leadership page.

This diversification says something about how large Libyan private groups develop in a fragmented market. Companies that build distribution networks, import industrial equipment, manage property and develop operating capacity in one sector can sometimes use those capabilities to enter adjacent industries.

Distribution experience developed for food can become useful elsewhere. Experience importing machinery can support manufacturing. Construction capabilities can help develop new facilities, while financial services can support transactions across the wider commercial network.

Not every diversification decision will necessarily produce the same results, but established businesses with infrastructure and management capacity have advantages when entering related sectors.

For Whiba Holding, food manufacturing remains the clearest example because its connection to Libya’s broader economic needs is direct and measurable.

Recognition Beyond Libya

Shaban Whiba’s profile gained wider regional attention in 2022 when the Institut Choiseul ranked him first in its Choiseul 100 Africa list.

The ranking focuses on African business leaders aged 40 or younger whom the institute considers influential in the continent’s economic development. Whiba was listed as general manager of Whiba Holding and placed ahead of executives from companies and institutions across the continent. The Institut Choiseul published the ranking in 2022.

The ranking does not itself measure the economic contribution of Whiba Holding, but it does show that Whiba’s profile had gained recognition beyond Libya and within a wider African business network.

By 2024, the Arab-British Chamber of Commerce was also presenting him internationally as CEO of Whiba Holding and included him among speakers at its Business Fair Libya in London.

These appearances add another dimension to the group’s development. Whiba Holding is not only operating as a domestic family enterprise; it is increasingly participating in regional and international business networks.

What Shaban Whiba’s Story Means for Libya’s Private Economy

Shaban Whiba’s business story is different from that of a technology founder building a company from zero because he inherited a leadership role within an established family enterprise.

The more useful question is what happened to that business under the next generation.

Whiba Holding moved further into manufacturing, developed larger food-production complexes, expanded storage and distribution capacity, entered additional industrial sectors and began exporting manufactured food products.

Those developments matter because Libya’s diversification challenge is not only about creating startups. It also requires established private companies to invest in productive assets and build capabilities that are more difficult to replicate than ordinary trading operations.

A trading company can import goods with relatively limited fixed investment. An industrial company has to build facilities, install machinery, train workers, maintain production lines, manage inventories and coordinate a supply chain. That usually requires more capital, but it can also create deeper links with other parts of the economy.

Libya will continue importing food and will remain heavily dependent on oil for the foreseeable future. Neither reality prevents domestic companies from performing more of the economic activity that sits between those two facts.

More food can be processed locally, more products can be packaged inside Libya, more storage capacity can be built, and more distribution can be organized domestically. Where Libyan manufacturers become competitive enough, locally manufactured products can also begin reaching foreign markets.

That is where Shaban Whiba and Whiba Holding fit into the wider story of Libyan entrepreneurs building the private economy beyond oil.

The significance is not that one group can diversify Libya on its own. Industrial diversification eventually has to appear somewhere tangible, and in this case it appears in mills, silos, warehouses, distribution networks and factories.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is Shaban Whiba?

Shaban Whiba is a Libyan businessman and CEO of Whiba Holding, a diversified private group active across food manufacturing, agriculture, construction, healthcare, energy and other sectors. The Arab-British Chamber of Commerce says he has served as CEO since 2009.

What is Shaban Whiba known for?

Shaban Whiba is best known for leading Whiba Holding and overseeing its expansion across food manufacturing and other industries. He was also ranked first in the Institut Choiseul’s 2022 Choiseul 100 Africa ranking.

Who founded Whiba Holding?

According to Whiba Holding, the group traces its origins to businesses founded by the late Musbah Whiba in 1987 in agriculture, livestock, poultry, animal feed and building materials. Shaban Whiba belongs to the second generation that later assumed management responsibilities.

What does Whiba Holding produce in Libya?

Whiba Holding’s food businesses manufacture products including flour, pasta, couscous, semolina, rice, vegetable oil, tomato products and beverages, with production and storage facilities operating across several Libyan locations.

Does Whiba Holding export Libyan food products?

Yes. According to the group’s official history, Whiba Holding began exporting food products internationally in 2023, moving part of its food-manufacturing strategy beyond the domestic market.

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