Dar al-Ifta calls for suspension of Pepsi financing

Libya’s Dar al-Ifta has urged the Central Bank of Libya (CBL) and the Ministry of Economy to suspend all import financing for Pepsi-branded beverages and revoke the licences of the company responsible for their distribution, citing what it described as links to Israel and the ongoing war in Gaza.

In a statement released Wednesday, the Council for Sharia Research and Studies within Dar al-Ifta singled out Pepsi-Cola, 7UP, Mirinda, and Aquafina, which are bottled locally by the African Beverages Company. It called on authorities and consumers to boycott these products, saying that continued trade with the firm amounts to “participation in aggression.”

The statement claimed that doing business with the company constitutes “direct support for the Israeli entity”, which it accused of committing atrocities against civilians in Gaza. It added that allowing hundreds of millions of dollars in letters of credit for the company represents a “serious drain on Libya’s economy” and makes the country “an indirect partner in financing companies that back the Israeli occupation.”

Dar al-Ifta also called for the company’s operations to be halted and redirected towards domestic production, describing such measures as being “in the national interest.”

The comments come amid growing public debate over the Central Bank’s foreign exchange allocations. On February 28, 2025, the CBL published a detailed list of letters of credit (LCs) issued between November 1, 2024, and February 20, 2025, totaling around US$6.5 billion.

The report shows that a company registered as “Africa for Beverage Packaging” received US$40.5 million in LC coverage, while “Al-Libiya Almotahida for Beverage Packaging” was allocated US$61.5 million.

Neither the CBL nor the companies named in the statement have issued a formal response.