The Grace Kennedy Group is looking to further expand into Guyana’s financial services sector with plans to establish mobile money services, a small business loan agency, a bank and insurance services.
“We have our own commercial bank and insurance company and of course remittance in Jamaica …we would like now to expand our banking and investment to Guyana… we would also want to introduce new investment products; mutual funds, unitrust and that sort of thing,” the company’s Chief Executive Officer, Don Webhy told Stabroek News in an interview on Saturday.
The company held a ceremony at the Pegasus Hotel to mark their 20th Anniversary here and officials from the Jamaica head office announced plans for expansion in Guyana.
Coupled with its Western Union remittance service, the officials said that they also want to offer mobile money services here but this would require a custodian bank. “That (Guyana investment) is a big part of Grace Kennedy strategy…we are in the process in Jamaica, of launching the mobile money and would also like to launch it in other Caribbean countries…the difference is that you would have to have a commercial bank before you can launch mobile wallet…we would now have to investigate, because we don’t have a commercial bank in Guyana so we would have to form an strategic alliance with another bank here or ultimately we would like to form our own bank,” Webhy said.
The Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company a few months ago launched mobile money services for the first time here.
Webhy said that while plans to have an actual bank would depend on banking regulation issues and approval he was confident that when this was complete, Guyanese would be satisfied with his company’s First Global Bank, quality and service. “When you go into a First Global Bank there are no long lines…customers don’t want long lines so you have to take customer service very seriously…we are very competitive with big banks because we compete hard in terms of technology and customer service,” he said.
The CEO explained that while he knows that there are other investors seeking to establish similar financial services here, this is needed as competition forces companies to work hard and the consumer benefits. “We love competition and we believe that the capital and financial market and consumers and business sectors ultimately will benefit so we think there should be more players on the market, more players with strong capital,” he said.
Jamaican-born, Canadian billionaire investor Michael Lee Chin, who recently visited Guyana, has said that his company is looking to establish financial service businesses here and also invest in the agriculture sector.
Wehby stated that his company had been assessing Guyana’s economy over a period and investment prospects are pleasing. “We have been looking at the Guyana economy very closely. To be honest, when you look at the Guyanese economy (it) is probably the star of the show and we believe that the growth is phenomenal and we find that attractive and that fits in with the vision of the Grace Kennedy Group in terms of being a regional financial player,” he said.
Guyana’s geographical location is also an advantage and the CEO feels that the road to Brazil will be “a game changer” in a positive way for the economy. “Guyana ‘s position- in terms of our expansion into Central and South America, that is more our food division, we will ship from Jamaica into those regions …for example our sauces and coconut water is being sent into Honduras and Guatemala at this time, but Brazil as you know, Guyana, is strategically located to Brazil and that is one of the most fastest and prosperous economies now so certainly with the World Cup and the Olympics is going to help Guyana and we are looking to participate in that growth,” he said.
Since the company’s food line is of integral importance, Guyana’s agriculture sector is also being examined. Wehby said he wants to be able to understand agriculture from a Guyana perspective as, if his company can get a manufacturing base in this region, it would be beneficial to all.
However, he said that energy costs are a deterrent in the region and should be addressed early if the Caribbean intends to go the way of agro-processing. “One of the limitations we have in the Caribbean in terms of agro-processing: the cost of utilities in the region it is really high when compared to other competitors, well except Trinidad, if we are really going to take the Caribbean seriously in terms of agriculture and agro-processing we have to get our energy cost down. It will call for upfront investment but it will be worth it because the world is there for us to export to… (but) it is very, very difficult with energy so high,” he said.
President of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Clinton Urling, also addressed the gathering and he emphasized the importance of policymakers formulating policies to enhance the flow and use of remittances. He pointed to the nearly 14% increase in remittances to US$496 million or $99 billion Guyana dollars which represents about 47% of the national budget of $208.8 billion.
“Remittances play an important role in poverty reduction, income distribution, spending habits, education, health, and investments just to name a few. Could we imagine for a second if we took out $99 billion Guyana dollars from the economy,” he questioned.
“Our government and policy makers need to formulate appropriate policies to enhance the flow and use of remittances. This includes perhaps special legislation for governing the industry and offering of special incentives (including tax measures) to money transfer companies so that they can bring down transaction costs to the consumers”, he added.
Urling believes that there is a need for the establishment of a Diaspora Ministry responsible for engaging, strengthening and coordinating the country’s relationship with the Diaspora so as to fuel further development.
