Guyanese businessman Andrew Mendes has been named as a recipient of the Anthony N Sabga Caribbean Awards for Excellence for 2020.
According to a release from the Trinidad and Tobago-based awards, the 2020 Laureates are:
The Anthony N Sabga Caribbean Awards has been in existence since 2005, and has named, inclusive of the current inductees, 43 Laureates from throughout the region.
The release said that the 2020 ceremony will be staged on April 25, 2020 at a venue to be announced in the near future.
The goal of the Awards for Excellence, its website said is to recognize significant Caribbean achievement and to encourage and to support the pursuit of excellence by Caribbean persons for the benefit of the region. The ANSA McAL Foundation is convinced that talent needs to be sought out and encouraged, the website said.
Mendes’ citation in the release said that he is an entrepreneur who brings a welcome change to the extractive industries (logging and oil), which are becoming more unpopular due to environmental concerns. He is the Managing Director of Farfan and Mendes Ltd which he joined in 1992. The citation said that it was a small concern, employing less than 20 people and known mainly for selling chainsaws to the timber companies, with an annual turnover of G$78 million.
“Today, because of his leadership, FML has business interests in not only forestry, but also in the mining, agricultural, and oil and gas sectors, and employs more than 370 people with an annual turnover in excess of G$5 billion”, the release said.
The release said that the company is also making a name in the world of renewable energy. In 2019 it was awarded a $25 million Guyana Government contract for the supply, installation and commissioning of solar photovoltaic systems for ICT hubs, installed the first private grid connected solar system at their offices at Providence, the first hybrid solar, generator and lithium ion storage system in the country, and has installed over 5 MW of solar systems countrywide.
The company also operates one of the largest drip irrigation farms in the Caribbean as part of a seed nursery to develop new corn and soy bean varieties for the worldwide market in the intermediate savannahs of Guyana, employing140 people from the local communities nearby, mostly women.
As well as making his own family business a success, the release said that Mendes is a passionate advocate of corporate responsibility, high-quality customer service and products, and improving standards. He played the lead role in the development of a Code of Practice for Wood Processing in Guyana to improve sawmilling practices in the country.
