SBB mulls increasing green-tech fund business grant – CEO

…says over 35 businesses benefitted since 2019

The Small Business Bureau (SBB) in an effort to promote innovation among the country’s small businesses, has revealed plans on increasing the amount of financing businesses can access through the Green Technology Fund initiative.
This was revealed by Chief Executive Officer at the Small Business Bureau (SBB), Mohamed Shazim Ibrahim on Monday during an exclusive interview with Guyana Times. During the interview the chief executive officer highlighted the importance of developing and supporting initiatives like the Green Technology Fund amid the country’s economic development.

“This is a fund where we’re looking for people to come up with groundbreaking solutions and new ideas that will help with the challenges that we are having with the environment. The president, His Excellency Mohamed Irfaan Ali, has mentioned over and over how important it is that we should get into better environmental practices,” the CEO explained.
He added that recognising the importance of better environmental practices the Bureau took it upon themselves to develop an initiative that not only promotes business growth, but to also encourages business owners to draft ideas that will help the environment, essentially killing two birds with one stone.
Moreover, the well-seasoned business official revealed that the bureau will be continuing the project next year, however he noted that the bureau plans on increasing the total amount of financing small business owners can access through the Green Technology Fund initiative.
“We plan to, well, it’s in the plan when the budget is approved to have this fund again next year with the same amount of winners but we are hoping to increase the value of the grant,” Ibrahim stated.
Additionally, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) revealed that since its inception in 2019 the Green Technology Fund initiative has supported over 35 Guyanese small business to date.
“I can tell you that to date about 40 businesses would have benefitted from the green-tech fund,” the CEO said.
Meanwhile, this year some 12 small business will be receiving a total of $1 million through the Green Technology Fund initiative. Small business owners interested in accessing financing through the fund are required to be registered under the Small Business Bureau (SBB) also businesses must have less than $60 million in annual turnover, less than $20 million in business assets, and less than 25 employees.
The bureau’s push to fund green technology projects comes even as Guyana is making strides in diversifying away from the use of fossil fuels and gravitating towards the use of more green technology. Plans to achieve this are laid out in the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS), the brainchild of former President Bharrat Jagdeo.
Under President Dr Irfaan Ali, an updated LCDS has been launched. The government has announced plans to resuscitate the Amaila Falls Hydropower Project. Smaller hydroelectric plants have been added to hinterland regions, and solar distribution panel programmes have been reintroduced. Solar farm projects will be created around larger communities to support economic projects.
The new gas-to-shore project will also kick in by 2025, enabling a significant reduction in Guyana’s dependency on fossil fuels. Guyana’s goal is to reduce fossil fuel use by 50 per cent by 2025, and by 70 per cent by 2030.