“It’s a big advantage for young people” – youths say Development Bank eases startup barriers

…as Pres Ali assures “quick” implementation

With the Guyana Development Bank (GDB) Bill already tabled in the National Assembly, President Dr Irfaan Ali has assured that there will be a quick move to formally operationalise the institution to improve access to credit and empower Guyanese. In a video posted to his Facebook page, the Guyanese Leader disclosed that primary work has already commenced to get the development bank running as soon as the legislation receives parliamentary approval. “You will have a quick movement to implementation because as the bill is in Parliament now, we are already setting up the administrative mechanism. We are already training people. We are already operationalising this so that our Guyanese people will benefit. The Guyanese family will benefit from the Development Bank,” Ali noted.
Senior Minister with Responsibility for Finance Dr Ashni Singh on Friday presented the GDB Bill 2026 to the National Assembly. This Bill caters for the establishment of the GDB, which will promote the development and expansion of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and entrepreneurs countrywide. The Development Bank will provide SMEs with access to up to $3 million in collateral-free micro-credit loans to persons and enterprises at zero-interest rate. The Guyana Government has pledged some $40 billion (US$200 million) for this financial institution with provisions for more capital to be injected in the future. Already, approximately $20 billion (US$100 million) was set aside in Budget 2026 for the bank when it comes into operation this year. According to President Ali, the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government believes that the best way of creating lasting prosperity is by empowering citizens to own more things hence the massive housing and infrastructure drive across the country. “We’re now moving to the Guyana Development Bank, where we’re giving Guyanese an opportunity to own their own businesses, to develop their own ideas, to invest in their own ideas – all in empowerment, all in building prosperity, all in creating wealth, and all in creating an equitable distribution of wealth, where every Guyanese can be part of this growing story,” he stated. The Head of State went onto note that the establishment of this institution is more than a lending facility. In addition to offering financing, the GDB will also provide mentorship and training to support the growth and development of the beneficiaries. “This is more than lending. This is about nurturing. This is about developing. This is about coaching, helping you in financial management, helping you to develop your ideas, helping you to build that business, that small business and empowering you to grow even further,” he asserted. Moreover, the Guyanese Leader explained that the bank will also create clusters of persons coming together to invest in bigger ideas, shared ideas, shared vision thus creating larger businesses. According to the President, such models of development banks are all around the world, adding that when it’s done right then it allows persons to work together by creating mentorship that supports every cluster.
“That mentorship that supports every cluster allows persons with experience to coach businesses, to help them in financial management so that their businesses will be successful. And that is what we want to do. Create successful businesses for you. Create successful enterprise. This will be thousands of loans given to ordinary Guyanese families with no collateral. You don’t have to own anything. You just have to have an idea that we will help you to develop, that we will help you to nurture.”
“So, for example, if you have 10 persons in a cluster who want to go into medium-sized egg production, right away they can scale up and they can come together and create a modern facility for egg production that is at a medium-scale level. That they could have never done before. That they could have never afforded to do before. So, the Development Bank is coming. It’s coming to bring opportunities to you. It’s coming to empower your ideas,” the Head of State declared.

Take advantage of opportunities
Meanwhile, President Ali used the opportunity to issue a special plea to young Guyanese to take advantage of the opportunities that this new institution will offer. In fact, he urged them to explore investing in new areas of growth and development such as eco-tourism, agro-processing, agriculture, the art industry, and the orange economy, among others.
“Young people, we want you to be involved in this. We want you to bring out your entrepreneurial spirit, your entrepreneurial ideas. Young students coming out of the University of Guyana (UG), here is your opportunity to come together in clusters and build something extraordinary. Build something that will create sustainability in the long term, that will create wealth in the long term,” the President stated. In fact, the opportunities that will be created by the operationalisation of the GDB are being welcomed by young Guyanese, who are eager to start their own businesses. One young woman, Shakira Rahaman, lauded the ease of access to financing that the development bank will bring. She said, “It will be easy for small, medium-sized enterprises to access this. Young entrepreneurs, women-led businesses, agri-processing everything. A lot of young people these days don’t have access to these finances because it’s hard for them to get documentation to get a solid business plan ready, and to also have enough money for the interest to pay for collateral.” Similarly, Mariesha said the bank will allow young people to pursue their dreams, especially highlighting the mentorship benefit. “A lot of young people now, they don’t have the capital to start up their business, so I think this would offer them a little relief. Business seems easy on the outside, but once you get into it, you see all the little intricacies, and it can be very daunting when you first step in. So, having that training, that mentorship throughout, at least for a certain period of time, would definitely do well.”
According to Julianna Persaud, “…starting out, I feel like it is essential that we have a standard base for everything that we want to do in life, and I think that the loan, and everything like that, would really be able to facilitate that a lot better. A zero-interest loan would be a huge opportunity. I think that it would be very, very beneficial for persons like myself.” On the other hand, Naiomi is encouraging her fellow young people to take advantage of this opportunity. “We young people should be using this opportunity to start our little small business, such as hair-dressing, online shipping, much more… It’s totally amazing. I’m thankful for this opportunity, and I don’t have to study about paying back any interest.” In fact, Ozhan Robinson stressed the relief that will come with accessing zero-interest loan especially for young people who would not have to rely on anyone to start or expand their businesses. “When you start young, you don’t really have much money so win this bank you don’t have to rely on like family members or some other random person. It helps to give you a push start… [And with] the zero interest rate, you don’t really have to worry about paying extra and stuff like that.”
Arianna Butler added, “It’s like a big advantage for young people, and also other people… I think it’s a great idea. It wouldn’t put that much pressure on people, especially young people, because most people are like looking for jobs and stuff like that. And if it’s zero-interest, it would benefit them, so they don’t have to worry about the stress of getting extra money to pay back the bank.” Stephan Ambrose believes that the bank “…is a good idea for young entrepreneurs who want to start with a business for them to become their own boss and in their own way. The way [the Government is] coming with it, it’s better because you won’t have to study about all stress with this, and you had to look for how long you had to pay back for this.”