IDB Invest to ramp up local financing with over US$300M in potential investments

– holds high-level talks with local Private Sector

IDB Invest – the Private Sector arm of the Inter-American Development Bank – has engaged the local Private Sector and is now looking at several projects that could see potential investments of more than US$300 million being injected into the Guyanese economy.
This was revealed by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of IDB Invest, James Scriven, who was on a two-day visit to Guyana recently. Scriven engaged representatives from local Private Sector bodies on Thursday to discuss investment opportunities in the country and how the institution can assist Guyanese businesses through funding.
He also met with President Dr Irfaan Ali to discuss IDB Invest’s continued contribution to the country’s rapidly growing economy.
Following those engagements, Scriven said, “Rest assured that the agenda we discussed last night and the meetings we had today [with the Private Sector] team have only today seen opportunities north of US$300 million. So, rest assured that we will continue to support your effort to diversify the economy as a development institution…”
This commitment by IDB Invest to further ramp its investment portfolio in Guyana is building on acceleration over the last five years.

Senior Minister with Responsibility for Finance Dr Ashni Singh, who facilitated the roundtable discussion between the IDB and the Private Sector, highlighted the failure over the years to fully capitalise on the financial institution’s offerings.
“For a very long time, I spent every available opportunity advocating that IDB Invest do even some business in Guyana. And for many years, it did little or no business, with only four transactions totalling US$6 million being completed in the entire first three decades of Guyana’s membership in the IDB,” the Finance Minister added.
He noted, however, that in 2020, when President Ali assumed the presidency, the Government immediately set about re-engaging with IDB Invest and invited the institution to establish and ramp up a presence in Guyana, recognising that the rate of economic growth would be creating private investment opportunities.

“I am extremely pleased to say that in the space of the five and a half years that elapsed since then, under James’s leadership, and I know with his personal involvement, IDB Invest has now approved US$264 million worth of financing for Private Sector projects, and these range across an extremely broad spectrum of sectors,” Minister Singh added.
During the roundtable discussion, Dr Singh further explained that the IDB is the premier hemispheric development institution and has historically been the largest provider of development finance to Guyana.
He also noted that this Private Sector arm of the bank recognises the importance of the mobilisation and deployment of private financing as an indispensable contributor to the realisation of the hemisphere’s economic growth aspirations.
Following the roundtable discussion, Scriven and his team, accompanied by Dr Singh, toured some project sites for which IDB Invest had provided financing support.
The first site the team visited was Demerara Distillers Limited, for which IDB Invest in 2020 provided US$22 million to support food security by financing the expansion of milk and fruit juice production capacity, along with another US$7 million in 2023 to further boost production and diversification of agro-processing operations.
Additionally, the team toured Muneshwers Limited, where, in 2022, IDB Invest provided US$4 million for the procurement of a mobile harbour crane to increase port terminal capacity and, in 2023, an additional US$10 million for the expansion of port and warehouse facilities.
IDB Invest has also partnered with Guyana’s Private Sector through the provision of financing for a number of other projects, including US$45 million in 2023 towards Unicomer Guyana Inc’s sustainable commercial complex that will employ micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in local supply chains; US$30 million in 2024 towards One Communications connectivity and networking infrastructure; US$5 million in 2025 to the Institute of Private Enterprise Development (IPED) to assist in expanding access to financing for micro and small enterprises (MSEs); as well as US$55 million under its Trade Finance Facilitation Programme to provide working capital and liquidity to commercial banks, including Republic Bank Guyana Limited, Demerara Bank Limited, and Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry (GBTI).
The visit culminated with Dr Singh and the visiting team joining President Irfaan Ali for the grand opening of the 172-room Four Points Sheraton Hotel, owned by Mauricio Van Dam, for which IDB Invest provided financing of US$18 million towards its construction.
Minister Singh, while delivering remarks, recalled that President Ali’s vision for all that is happening currently started when he was Minister of Housing and Water and Minister of Tourism, as at that time, “he already had a map with every dam in every cane field mapped out with remarkable clarity. So today, when we fast forward to 2026 and we hear conversations about the dozens of hotels that are being opened and the thousands of rooms that are being created, as well as the thousands upon thousands of jobs that are being created in the tourism and hospitality sector, I can’t help but cast my mind back to that period when these ideas were being conceptualised, with the clarity with which they were being conceptualised and with a vision that really today makes me wonder about how much of it was foresight and fortuitous circumstances. Of course, the discovery of oil did help and will continue to help, but I want to really make the point to all of you today that we did not get here by accident and we did not get here only because of oil,” the Finance Minister explained.
Meanwhile, Scriven, in his remarks, said the opening of the hotel marks a significant milestone in sustainable development and investor confidence. He also noted that the hotel is setting a new regional standard for eco-friendly luxury and is anticipated to be the first EDGE Advanced-certified hotel in Guyana and potentially in all of the Caribbean.
“You are leading sustainable tourism by featuring a large solar roof footprint and energy-efficient design, and the hotel aligns perfectly with Guyana’s Low Carbon Development Strategy,” Scriven pointed out.
Joining the CEO on his visit to Guyana were the Managing Director for the Caribbean Region, Darryl White; the Director of the Caribbean Region, Corporates Division, Isabel de Caires, of IDB Invest; as well as the Executive Director for the Caribbean at the IDB, Navita Ramroop, and the IDB Country Representative, Lorena Solórzano Salazar.