Pres Ali, Cabinet discuss opportunities in oil & gas, agriculture with Nigerian investors

In keeping with Guyana’s continued ability to attract investor interest, a group of African international investors on Monday held meetings with President Dr Irfaan Ali and the Cabinet, where investment opportunities in a number of areas were discussed.

The meeting with the delegation, led by Benedict Peters, Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Nigeria’s largest oil production firm – Aiteo Group – took place at State House and featured a number of Government Ministers.
According to a statement from the Office of the President, the discussions “centred on business opportunities in Guyana in agriculture with a focus on sugar, rice and aquaculture; natural resources, specifically in mining, onshore exploration, and a refinery; and housing development.”
President Ali was joined by the Senior Minister within the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance, Dr Ashni Singh; Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Minister Hugh Todd and Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha.

Also present were Housing and Water Minister Collin Croal, Public Works Minister Juan Edghill, Natural Resources Minister Vickram Bharrat and Director of Projects at the Office of the President, Marcia Nadir-Sharma.
With its headquarters in Lagos, Nigeria, and offices in Abuja, Port Harcourt, Warri, London and Geneva, Aiteo is Nigeria’s largest oil company and one of Africa’s fastest-growing energy leaders.
It operates in the Niger Delta basin in West Africa’s offshore fields, and in the Benue Trough. Among its areas of expertise is exploration and production, bulk petroleum storage, refining of petroleum products, trading, marketing and supply, power generation and distribution.
As Guyana continues on the track to unprecedented economic growth, it continues to attract the attention of global players from Africa to India to China and even nearby Brazil. Last year, following months of bilateral engagements between Guyana and Ghana, particularly in the area of oil and gas and local content, President Ali and members of his Cabinet had earlier met with a visiting Ghanian delegation of private sector representatives.
There are also a number of investors from China, who are eyeing major development projects in the country such as the much-touted gas-to-shore project. This was according to the Chinese Ambassador to Guyana, Guo Haiyan, during an interview with Guyana Timesin May. She had noted that Guyana has great demand and great potential for development thus drawing Chinese investors and companies.
And in April of this year, high-profile Indian investors also visited Guyana to explore investment opportunities in a number of sectors, with a keen interest in infrastructural development.
During a four-day visit, they met with local stakeholders from the Government, led by President Dr Ali and some of his Cabinet Ministers, the Private Sector Commission (PSC), the Guyana Oil and Gas Energy Chamber (GOGEC), and other private sector players.
Prior to this visit, a high-level delegation of world-renowned India-based leading hospital chain, Narayana Hrudayalaya, had visited Guyana and held discussions with President Ali and Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony as they explored opportunities to invest in the healthcare sector of Guyana.
Additionally, back in December, GO-Invest and Guyana’s High Commission in India had a multi-sectoral investment exchange with the Mumbai-based TATA Group, a multinational conglomerate. The company was told of the vast investment opportunities in the agriculture, energy, manufacturing, technology, and tourism sectors in Guyana.
A number of Brazilian investors, under the umbrella of PanAmazonia, also visited Guyana in May to explore various opportunities for investments, and held meetings with members of the Private Sector Commission (PSC).
Nor is PanAmazonia restricted to Brazil. It is a non-governmental organisation (NGO) with headquarters in Manaus Amazonas, and is made up of over one hundred of the most reputable and respected associations from Brazil, Colombia, Bolivia, Peru, Venezuela, Suriname, French Guiana, Ecuador, and now Guyana.