A contextual financial analysis of the gas-to-shore project (Part 8)

Concluding Remarks
Guyana is well positioned to lead a massive regional integration drive, given the development trajectory the country is embarking upon. This is the important context within which the analyses conducted herein is premised regarding the gas-to-shore project. Proponents who are of the view that the project is not economically and financially feasible ignored this fundamental context and many other important variables.
A number of scenarios and estimates were used in the analysis to determine whether the project is deemed meritorious in terms of its economic viability. To this end, the findings of the analysis indicate that the project can achieve its objective of reducing energy cost by 50% or more, while remaining a profitable venture, and the initial investment cost can be recovered within a period of four to seven years.
Moreover, the long-term economic viability with the location of the project in mind is based on the fact that, evidently, the development of the country is moving towards the South, with the intention of eventually building a secondary city on the Linden Highway. The proposed location of the project is earmarked to be an industrialised zone, given the access to thousands of acres of land that can be transformed into massive agricultural activities. The location on the West Bank is also within reasonable proximity, adjacent to the East Bank corridor – where a number of infrastructural developments as well as commercial and industrial activities will take place. As such, the gas-to-shore project will certainly yield long term economic benefits for the entire country, and is deemed economically sensible to be built at the exact proposed location for these reasons. This can result in efficient and cost-effective distribution channels, given the direction towards which geographic development of the country is moving.
Guyana’s development has been stymied for more than ten years, owing to its peculiar development challenges as described in this paper. The time has now come for all of Guyana and its people to embrace the development path the country is embarking upon, and support the policymakers to achieve these goals. As was shown in these contextual analyses, the development projects being pursued were not conceptualised haphazardly or through an overnight exercise. Logically, the country’s development can move now only in one direction, and that is more inland and towards the south.
For too long, Guyana has been an underdeveloped country, and it would be good for everyone to embrace this strategy and contribute their skills and expertise in finding solutions to advance this very ambitious, relevant, and much needed development path for the country. The development strategy of the country by the current regime was developed over 25 years ago, and it remains relevant today simply because the geographic landscape of Guyana has not changed and the country’s development was stymied for many years.

About the Author:
J.C. Bhagwandin is the Chief Financial Advisor/Analyst of JB Consultancy & Associates, and a lecturer at Texila American University. The views expressed are exclusively his own, and do not necessarily represent those of this newspaper or the institutions he represents. For comments, send to [email protected].