IDB Invest eyeing new ventures in agri-business, infrastructure, telecoms – CEO

– Finance Minister urges local Private Sector to capitalise on funding

With more capital in hand, IDB Invest – the Private Sector arm of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) – is ready to expand its investment portfolio in Guyana, eyeing opportunities in an expanded range of sectors, including agribusiness, tourism, infrastructure, and telecommunications, among others.
This is according to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of IDB Invest, James Scriven, during a special programme on the state-owned National Communication Network (NCN) on Friday evening, where he appeared alongside Senior Minister with Responsibility for Finance Dr Ashni Singh to discuss unlocking Guyana’s Private Sector potential.
“This is an economy that’s growing very fast… We, as a development institution, have a keen objective to diversify the economy. There are a number of sectors that are not being addressed directly… so those are the sectors where we want to engage particularly. And you think about agribusiness, you think about tourism, and you think about a number of physical infrastructure. Some examples of the opportunities that we’re looking at… the telecommunications business, data centres… the banking sector. But I think what you need to expect from IDB Invest is a wider range of industries in which we will engage,” he stated.
The IDB Invest’s plans to expand investments in Guyana come as the institution declared a capital increase at its annual meeting in Asuncion, Paraguay, last month. This, Scriven explains, allows the institution to double its capital and triple the number of businesses that it invests in.

New products
In fact, Scriven, who was recently on a two-day visit to Georgetown, had high-level engagements with President Dr Irfaan Ali and representatives from various Private Sector bodies in the country. Stemming from those engagements, the IDB Invest Head revealed that he has already set his sights on new opportunities north of US$300 million in Guyana.
Moreover, Scriven further stated during the programme that the IDB is also looking to transition from its traditional long-term financing and introduce a wider range of products. Among these is local currency financing, which will see investments being made in Guyanese currency rather than United States dollars.
Additionally, the IDB has also implemented project preparation facilities to assist potential clients with projects, thus taking the burden from them and better positioning their proposals for success. Another important new product being rolled out by the institution is the capacity to become shareholders and provide equity to clients.
“IDB Invest is open for business. We are extremely optimistic about the future of Guyana. We will be investing disproportionately large amounts of money in this country. And I think that is the message [to the Guyanese Private Sector]. Please reach out to us. We’ve got an office over here. We’ve got a country manager over here. They’ll be more than welcome to receive business opportunities to be able to discuss. So, open for business, big money, local presence, and local content,” Scriven emphasised.

Era of opportunities
With these offerings on the table, Minister Singh is imploring the local Private Sector to capitalise on them. He pointed out that while the last five years have seen unprecedented economic growth in Guyana, the next five will bring even greater opportunities across all sectors-something that they need to position themselves to pursue.
“The next five years promise to be an equally extraordinary period of economic growth… And these developments, this exciting prospect, present incredible opportunities for enterprising Guyanese individuals and enterprising Guyanese businesses. Therefore, I urge Guyanese nationals and Guyanese companies to engage in serious introspection on what their respective comparative advantages are, where they can position themselves to take advantage of the economic growth that will be occurring, and the economic opportunities that will be emerging.”
“You’re living in literally the most exciting period in our country’s history, and you’re living in an era of opportunity. I urge every single person who is an entrepreneur or who is considering becoming an entrepreneur to reflect on what you do best, what you think you can do competitively, and to prepare yourself to do it competitively, to enter the market and start producing whatever it is that you can do competitively and establish a business and grow your business,” the Finance Minister asserted.
This commitment by IDB Investing to further ramp up its investment portfolio in Guyana is building on acceleration over the last five years. Prior to 2020, IDB Invest had only about four transactions totalling US$6 million in Guyana. However, in the last five years alone, IDB Invest has approved a whopping US$264 million worth of financing for Private Sector projects in Guyana.
These include the US$30 million Four Points by Sheraton Georgetown Hotel, for which IDB Invest provided approximately US$18 million in financing for its construction.
IDB Invest has also injected another US$29 million into Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL) to expand its milk and fruit juice production capacity, as well as to further boost production and diversification of agro-processing operations.
Muneshwers Limited also benefited from US$14 million from the Private Sector arm of the IDB to procure a mobile harbour crane to increase port terminal capacity and expand its port and warehouse facilities.
Other companies that have received financing from IDB Invest include Unicomer Guyana Inc, US$45 million; One Communications, US$30 million; and the Institute of Private Enterprise Development (IPED) to the tune of US$60 million.