For decades, Guyana has earned billions of dollars in revenue from extracting and exporting its gold. With the emergence of oil and gas, natural resource earnings have climbed to levels the country has never seen before.
While these sectors brought in considerable revenue, paving the way for local employment and business development, the government wants to retain more value for its people.
In mining, the government is working to transform Guyana into a global gold and jewellery hub by 2030, while in petroleum, authorities are harnessing natural gas to provide cheaper, cleaner energy that could make manufacturing and value-added production across the wider economy more competitive.
Technical Consultant at the Ministry of Natural Resources, Dominic Gaskin recently appeared on the Starting Point podcast where he described a strategy formulated by the government that will pave the way for a structural transformation of the gold industry. He said the government intends to ensure greater use of technology, higher productivity and major expansion in the scope and scale of activities in the gold and jewellery making industry.
He said the strategy includes a critical component which speaks to “El Dorado Reimagined”, the national brand under which all Guyanese gold jewellery will be promoted globally. Overall, the strategy intends to address major gaps that will ensure Guyana’s craftsmanship gets the support it needs to thrive beyond these shores.
A similar opportunity is emerging around Guyana’s offshore natural gas resources, but on a potentially larger industrial scale.
The government has noted that the first phase of Guyana’s Gas-to-Energy project will transport associated gas from the Stabroek Block to Wales on the West Bank of Demerara. The gas will support approximately 300 megawatts of electricity generation, while a natural gas liquids facility will allow Guyana to process another component of the offshore gas stream onshore.
Wales is being positioned for additional industrial development, including a proposed glass factory and a liquefied petroleum gas bottling and logistics operation. The government has also discussed the potential for a data centre there.
Further expansion of gas infrastructure is planned for Berbice, where the government wants additional power generation and gas-supported industrial development. A data centre has also been proposed for Berbice, while access to natural gas could create opportunities for other industries that use gas as an input or require large amounts of energy.
For Guyanese businesses, those developments could open opportunities well beyond the companies directly involved in producing oil, gas or minerals.
New processing and manufacturing industries would require suppliers, contractors, skilled workers, transportation, maintenance, technology and other supporting services. They could also create space for Guyanese entrepreneurs to establish businesses around products and services that currently have limited domestic markets. Cheaper electricity could help make some of those opportunities viable.
The government expects the Gas-to-Energy project to slash electricity costs by 50 percent for consumers. If achieved, lower prices and improved reliability could reduce a longstanding constraint on manufacturing and processing in Guyana.
Cheaper power could even improve the environment for jewellery manufacturing, mineral processing and other businesses seeking to turn Guyanese gold resources into higher-value products.
The opportunities for wealth creation will also be magnified when the Guyana Development Bank is up and running. That institution will provide businesses with up to $3 million in financing, with no collateral required and zero interest charged.
The government has positioned the bank as a source of financing for businesses and entrepreneurs seeking to invest and expand. It has even encouraged Guyanese to pool their respective $3 million loans so that they could tap into bigger opportunities across the economy.
With the bank’s support, Guyanese considering businesses in manufacturing, processing and supporting services can begin looking at where the country’s natural resource industries are heading and what capabilities will be needed when those opportunities arrive. Access to development financing could provide a springboard for some of those investments.
What is evident from all that is taking place is that Guyana is no longer looking to be a primary exporter of its natural resources. Its ambition is to use those resources to build stronger, and in some cases, new industries.
The pieces necessary to realise this goal are coming together. Cheaper energy is coming on stream to support production at every level, plans are advancing for value-added industries and a new source of development financing will help Guyanese enter and grow in these areas.
If Guyana gets this right, it will be able to add real depth to what it means to be the world’s fastest-growing economy. Growth will be reflected not only in record-breaking revenues and rising production figures, but, more importantly, in the industries we build, the global brands we create,and the wealth citizens can share and enjoy for generations to come.