A decision by Libya's second largest mobile network operator Almadar Aljadeed, to offer 5G services in November 2019 has signaled the start of a 5G 'race' in the North African country.

The state-owned ISP said its 5G network is now available in the country's capital city Tripoli, adding that the 5G service will be rolled out in phases starting with the country's main cities - all of which will be connected to 5G by 2020. The entire country will be connected to 5G afterwards.

"We are the first operator in the region to launch 5G and this is part of our five-point strategy for 2016-2020," the operator stated.

Speaking at the official launch of the 5G network, Fayez Mustafa al-Sarraj, chairman of the Presidential Council of Libya, described the launch as a qualitative leap to improve telecommunication and IT services, adding that it will accelerate the digital transformation of the country.

Libya's emergence as a frontrunner in 5G, in spite of the political crisis that has rocked the country in recent months, is in line with a recent GSMA report that operators in the Middle East and North African (MENA) region will be among the first in the world to launch commercial 5G networks.

It predicted that there will be more than 50 million 5G connections across the MENA region by 2025, with 5G networks covering approximately 30% of the region's population by that point.

"With rising mobile broadband adoption, growing subscriber numbers and increasing smartphone use, mobile is having an incredible impact across this diverse region, ushering in an era of innovative tech startups and new mobile services, as well as helping to connect the unconnected," said Mats Granryd, Director General, GSMA.

Almadar Aljadeed's 5G journey began with pilot testing during which it recorded 5G network speed of up to 1.5Gbs per second.