Chairman of the Caricom Private Sector Organization (CPSO) Gervase Warner says Guyana holds great potential for increasing the number of local entrepreneurs through partnership, by tapping into opportunities with people both in the region and in Africa.
“I’ve met a number of people from Nigeria and Ghana who have a strong interest in investing in Guyana, specifically, in the Caribbean, overall. So I think it’s part of all countries looking for foreign direct investment. Guyana is in an extremely privileged position of being really the host of and the centre of attention for foreign direct investment and a lot of companies are looking to come to Guyana,” he told the Stabroek News in an interview while in Accra, Ghana last month.
“One of the great opportunities that I think for a small population in Guyana is… figuring out how to get access to people to work on the development of the country, in multiple sectors. It’s going to be a really important angle for the country to take on. And of course, you can create your own filters but… you recognise that, you know, development is driven by people, and if you don’t have the human resource, it becomes a constraint to growth,” he added.
During his recent travel to West Africa where he visited Nigeria and Ghana, Warner said a lot of business and investment personnel there have expressed interest in Guyana and sought his views on investments here. “I have said to them – Guyana is the place to be! It really is the place to be. Exxon continues to find more oil, they continue to expand the development of their field; we continue to see the growth.”
Warner said the development taking place in Guyana is catalysed by the new oil and gas economy, and he believes the “growth explosion” will continue for a while, mushrooming with opportunities as the government spends on infrastructure and other development plans. “This is enormous growth in the economy that’s being driven by Exxon’s oil finds. The production and the revenue that the government is getting from that and that is really accelerating economic growth as the government spends on infrastructure; as other people come in to support the oil and gas industry and then there are all of the supporting spin offs as huge multipliers of that.”
Also the President and Group Chief Executive Officer of the Caribbean conglomerate Massy Groups since 2009, Warner pointed to the positive changes in Guyana over the years since oil discovery, a sign that he believes shows that “Guyana is developing very well.
“You drive through Georgetown now and you’re seeing lots of buildings coming up; lots of new construction; new roads… there is an emerging and growing middle class. Guyana is developing very well,” he posited.
The CPSO Chairman said he knows the Irfaan Ali administration is “really focused and is trying to make sure that along with the development of oil and gas there is diversified growth.
“I know he has a special place in this heart for the agricultural sector and he is taking the lead in the Caribbean in the area of food security, food production which I think is definitely laudable. So I think that there are real opportunities vis-à-vis what is happening in oil and gas and beyond,” he said.
Warner reasoned that Guyana can learn a lot from the many experiences faced by African nations, and use those to better position itself to escape the negatives and build on the positives, such as maximising learning and being taught the competencies in the sector from personnel in those countries.
“There’s this resource area in terms of competence and capability that could be applicable in Guyana. There are also lessons that have been learned here that could also be applicable. So I think that there’s a natural connection again between Guyana, a South American country but it is part of Caricom, which has a large African Diaspora as well …and this [African] continent,” he said.
“There clearly is a relatedness that people feel; a source of skilled people; a source of investment; a source of tourism that I think can redound to Guyana’s own prosperity and aspirations as well,” he added.
From a private sector perspective, Warner posited that in Guyana it is “perfectly understandable and acceptable” that the private sector here first focus on what’s happening and the activities of potential private sector growth.
And when the internal opportunities here have been maximised, he thinks that in the right time, the biggest opportunity would be “making oneself available for partnerships as investors look to come into Guyana. Being host to investment partners would be a great opportunity for Guyanese private sector and business people.
“We’ve seen, quite frankly, more people in the infrastructure in oil and gas business, and go, oh wow! There is something good going on over there. Maybe it’s something that we can find a way to apply our skill sets to, or our resources or capital, and I’ve supported and suggested that Guyana is an extremely attractive investment location, particularly at this point in time with all the growth and development happening there.”
The CPSO President was quick to point out that while he was bullish on Guyana, overall, all the other Caricom countries were portrayed as having great investment potential.
