University of Guyana graduate and accounting and finance professional, Mohamed Ibrahim, is the new Chief Executive Officer of the Small Business Bureau [SBB].
Ibrahim took up the position on November 1st replacing Vanessa Thompson who had resigned during the course of this year. He emerged as the best candidate for the position from a pool of applicants who participated in interviews some months ago.
Speaking with Stabroek News yesterday during a brief interview, Ibrahim explained that he previously worked with the Ministry of Finance in the development of the Integrated Financial Management and Accounting System (IFMAS) and the Ministry of Housing and Water on the development of its Low Income Housing project. The University of Guyana graduate said under his leadership the SBB will continue to work and develop small businesses into sustainable enterprises. He noted that since being in the position it has been a “beautiful challenge” as he has not been confined to his office but rather on outreaches across the country working with businesses.
“We have been working on making the business incubators work. We recently launched the incubator hub at Lethem. What we are doing there is working with small business to help them achieve sustainable growth,” he said. Ibrahim, who is also a North American Certified Accounting Professional explained that they have been teaching businesses how to move away from outdated methods and how to add value to their products.
“We have been functioning as the backbone for small businesses and developing entrepreneurship… the Monitoring and Evaluating department has been working with businesses to show them how to move to the next level and areas that are often overlooked,” he explained.
Over the weekend, Ibrahim and his team were distributing grants to small businesses. At the event, he said, “We are here distributing grants and we did just about 130 just for this region, Region Six. We have people in a variety of small enterprises and we give out about $150, 000 each grant and these grants is all within the plans of the small business bureau to promote sustainable growth and to help with poverty reduction within the entire region. This is one of our major aspect and we focus on helping these small businesses grow.” Last week an additional 25 persons from the Essequibo Coast also received small grant cheques to boost their businesses.
Speaking to beneficiaries [in Essequibo], Ibrahim said the grant was distributed to nurture businesses, at the same time underscoring that it is SBB’s intention to empower more businesses throughout Guyana. He emphasized that the SBB is moving businesses from micro to medium and the focus is on sustainable growth. He said that over 2,000 entrepreneurs benefited in 2022 from the training that SBB provides in management, budgeting, and financing, among other areas. He also mentioned that SBB is assisting with loan guarantees of up to 6% in order to help businesses prosper. It is SBB’s intention to establish an agro-processing facility in Region Two to assist farmers in the region to package their products.
