Latest update June 15th, 2026 1:01 AM
Money in the streets here
Editorial…
Kaieteur News- It seems that Dr. Ashni Singh has gone from minister to marketer extraordinaire. He took off like a jet at the recent Guyana Energy Conference and Supply Chain Expo.
His words were enticing, representing an invitation that few from anywhere in the world would be able to resist. Come to Guyana and invest, there’s money lying on the streets begging to be picked up. The minister has a point, but it only goes so far, conceals the dark underbelly of a country that is a mystery: all glitter on the surface, and a graveyard just below.
Minister Singh gave a flawless exhibition of salesmanship. Guyana is a “the fastest growing economy in the world” with a “fantastic location” as well as “the capital of CARICOM, connected to Brazil and next to Suriname.” That he did this all in a single breath speaks to the energy in the man. If we were part of the easily bought over crowd, it is likely that his salesmanship would have knocked us for six. But we know Minister Singh well, he and his leading comrades, and the sweet games that they play, and which says a lot, but also hides a lot. In the traditional supersalesman fashion, Singh dished out the positives, the magnetic attractions, to his overseas crowd hanging onto his every word. It was what he conveniently left out that is a different world from the one that he so brightly outlined.
For sure, there is money to be made in Guyana, and much more than any investor can imagine. But one of the little troublesome strings that Singh forgot to mention in his sermon was the cost of doing business. Powerhouse companies of the world like ExxonMobil, Schlumberger, and Lindsayca/CH4 go right to the top, deal with the men who are in control of everything. They don’t do their business with the small fry, such as ministers and secretaries and others of that second-tier division. They deal with those who can make decisions, and those who know that there are some companies that they dare not push too far. In contrast, the newcomers in waiting, those who are hungry and jostling for an opportunity, are forced to play by the unwritten rules that are part of the PPP/C Government’s culture. In the sparsest description possible, they had better pay to play. The ground has been set up that way, where there is a cost to doing business in Guyana.
The textbooks term that ‘red tape’ or ‘bureaucracy’. We at this paper call it for it really is deep down: corruption, the sweep of corruption that is as deep as it is costly. There is no question that money is there to be made in Guyana, as Minister Singh made clear. What was missing from that equation is that potential investors must put money on the table to establish their seriousness, and then under it to show that they are going to be good partners to do business with, at the beginning and going forward. There was another telling feature that was not part of the minister’s powerful spin. Crime is a serious concern in Guyana. Random crime and serious crime and violent crime that could strike anyone at any time, and with a law enforcement apparatus that does not instill the required degree of confidence. The doubtful are urged to consult with the US Embassy in Guyana and its cautions relative to this country.
Another vital ingredient that Singh smoothly ignored is how Guyanese are angry. Large bands of locals observe how everybody from everywhere could come here and make money from their wealth, while they are hungry and ragged. Despite Singh’s valiant effort to incorporate some smart words about Local Content, Guyanese know better, for they are the ones left out, and left with the sharp and dirty end of the stick in this the fastest growing economy in the world. It is not the most recommended climate for investors, not the needed boost to investor confidence that helps them to finalize a decision to invest in Guyana. We hear Ashni Singh’s song about money to be made here. We also heard him avoiding the negatives from his rosy picture.
(Money in the streets here)
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- CARICOM, Dr. Ashni Singh, Editorial, Fastest growing economy, Guyana Energy Conference and Supply Chain Expo, Suriname
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