One may not have thought that this was a particularly propitious time for the opening of what, by Guyana standards, is a fairly significant investment in the fast-food industry, particularly at a time when the erratic performance of the coronavirus continues to create sufficient uncertainty as to induce a generous measure of caution, even uncertainty, in the business community. The reality is, however, that hard-nosed businessmen and women are often inclined to see investments from perspectives which ‘ordinary’ people don’t, so that last Saturday, Popeyes expanded its suite of fast-food locations to four, the latest one situated at Parika on the East Bank of Essequibo.
The first thing that should be said about the new Popeyes eatery is that the fact that it is expected to employ twenty-five Guyanese at a time when jobs are being lost on account of the coronavirus-related shrinkage in trading is welcome. Our own sense of the unemployment situation is that, at the level of small businesses, it continues to grow as a result of either the closure or the temporary cessation of operations of small and medium-sized businesses. Perhaps, surprisingly, we found too, that restaurant and snackette operations appear to be holding their own on account of two factors: ingenious approaches to marketing their product on the one hand, and taking advantage of the facility that inheres in the culinary sector to ‘re-engineer’ menus to suit people’s budgets.
The new Popeyes outlet doubtless reflects the investor’s recognition of the considerable proclivity amongst Guyanese for ‘eating out,’ and their particular preference for fast foods. The local liking for ‘fast foods’ cuts across generations in Guyana.
Significant investment in Guyana at this time is also a reflection of the direction in which our country, more particularly, our economy is going. If there appear, increasingly, to be challenges up ahead insofar as ongoing oil & gas-related negotiations, those are unlikely to have a bearing on the reality of the direction in which Guyana appears to be headed.
All of this augurs well for investment and for jobs and as has already been mentioned, the fast food sector is as good a sector as any in which to invest. What we must hope, as well, is that even as external franchises seek to establish investment beachheads here, corresponding local content opportunities arise for Guyanese investors. This is not the first time that we are saying that we remain far from persuaded that enough has been done, up to this point, to provide assurance that efforts are being made to secure local content opportunities for small and even micro local businesses.
Jobs are a significant gain too; and here it is apposite to make the point that it would be more than worthwhile if both government and the private sector can be seen to be lobbying for competent and qualified Guyanese to occupy high profile positions in foreign businesses that are afforded the opportunity of investing here. Indeed, there is nothing wrong with both the government and the private sector letting it be known that it would stand foreign businesses seeking to set up here in good stead if their operating blueprint embraces a preparedness to offer responsible, challenging, high profile jobs to suitably qualified Guyanese.
Contextually, it was good to see the government’s new, young, female, Minister of Tourism officiating at the opening of the Popeyes outlet. Her presence shines a light on a tourism sector that still lags behind those in other parts of the Caribbean. Indeed, it has to be said that successive political administrations have failed, palpably, to provide any serious indication as to the weight that they attach to the tourism sector as a player in the Guyana economy.
Finally, and hopefully, the opening of the new Popeyes, will help to provide, for patrons on the East Bank Essequibo, a kind of ‘feel good pushback’ against the deeply depressing doldrums into which COVID-19 appears determined to drive us. Whilst the optimum utilisation of the facility, in the immediate period ahead will be constrained by the protocols imposed upon us by the pandemic, it is one of those establishments whose offerings can bestow generous measures of stress relief at those points in time when a sense of depression may well be descending upon us.
