Guyana needs long term job strategy beyond oil – APNU

May 18, 2026 News

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(Kaieteur News) – Guyana must have a long-term job strategy to cater to the country’s needs beyond oil and gas, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) said on Friday.

At the party’s weekly press conference, Lumumba Angoy told reporters that Guyana is currently standing at a defining moment in the history of its economy. Notwithstanding, he said the government must not take for granted the fact that oil revenues have created new opportunities to facilitate growth.

“The reality is clear: oil-related job growth will eventually slow as the sector becomes more capital-intensive, automated, and dominated by specialized expertise. The PPP/C government is failing to adequately prepare Guyanese workers and businesses for this inevitable transition. Instead of building a balanced economy with strong productive sectors, the government has relied heavily on oil revenues, imported labor, and short-term infrastructure expansion while neglecting sustainable, long-term employment creation in our traditional sectors,” Angoy said.

The APNU representative said that while the government has held public consultations where emphasis was placed on giving small government contracts to citizens, those contracts offer only temporary income opportunities and cannot be substituted as a national job creation strategy. APNU said too that Guyanese deserve high paying jobs and economic opportunities to sustain their families. As a result, the coalition said that for Guyana to lock-in true long-term prosperity for its people, the oil sector must be

unlocked and true development for the agriculture, forestry, mining, manufacturing, tourism, and service sectors be realized.

“The size of Guyana’s non-oil GDP was G$829.930 billion in 2024 and was projected at G$860.287 billion in 2025. Non-oil GDP grew by 13.1% in 2024, with projected growth of 13% to 13.8% in 2025 and 10.8% in 2026. These figures show that the non-oil economy has real potential, but that potential must be developed into jobs, industries, and opportunities for Guyanese.

Data from the Bureau of Statistics indicate that the service sector accounts for almost 60%, agriculture for 15%, construction for 10%, mining for 12% and oil and gas for 3% of the labor force. We need to move the forestry and mining sectors away from raw-material extraction and develop the other sectors while using oil revenues wisely to build productive national capacity,” Angoy said.

Looking at the last 24 months, Angoy highlighted that the fastest growing job sectors have been construction, transportation & logistics, hospitality and tourism, oil support services, and public sector expansion.

“We have vast timber resources capable of supporting a modern wood-processing and furniture manufacturing industry. Our extensive mineral reserves can support value-added mining and downstream processing. Our fertile agricultural lands can produce large-scale agro-processing, value-added food exports, and improved regional food security, which is critical given the implications of the recent war and the shipping crisis. We have eco-tourism and cultural tourism opportunities that are still significantly underdeveloped. Our young population can drive a modern services economy that tends to offer higher-wage jobs,” he said.

Angoy said too that under the Peoples Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) many of the sectors are still underutilized, underfinanced, and not integrated into a coherent national development plan.

“This is especially dangerous when petroleum and gas accounted for 64.9% of GDP in 2024 and 61.2% in 2025, leaving an implied non-petroleum share of only 35.1% in 2024 and 38.8% in 2025. Guyana cannot afford to have such a large share of its economy tied to one sector while the sectors that employ and sustain ordinary communities are still underdeveloped. Oil resources must be used to diversify the economy. While the government preaches diversification, we are increasing our dependence on oil,” he stressed.

Further, Angoy said that APNU’s job development strategy places a focus on creating employment across the country that is sustainable, by direct investment into the productive industries and the ordinary workers.

“The development of forestry and wood-processing industries to create value-added exports, support for mining communities and downstream mineral processing, targeted incentives for local enterprise development, community-based agriculture programs, expansion of digital skills and business services; and policies aimed at creating over 40,000 jobs across Guyana,” he stated.

Angoy expressed that the party importantly recognizes that the global economy’s future will become increasingly dependent on services, logistics, technology, digital business, education, healthcare, and professional industries. As such, he believes that Guyana must build a modern service economy capable of employing thousands of young citizens within the high-value sectors beyond oil extraction. A diversified economy is not optional; it is essential for national stability.

He stressed that countries that do not diversify beyond natural resources, are often faced with economic shock, unemployment crisis and “and social instability when commodity cycles decline. APNU refuses to allow Guyana to become dangerously dependent on one industry.

“The PPP/C government speaks often about growth in terms of GDP, but growth alone does not guarantee broad-based prosperity. True development means empowering Guyanese workers, supporting local businesses, creating permanent opportunities, and ensuring that every region receives help from national progress.”

The coalition vows to stay committed to building an economy that is people centered, using the oil revenues as a tool for national transformation instead of a substitute for the real economic planning.

Angoy urged, “Guyana’s future cannot rest on oil alone. It must be built by the hands, talents, creativity, and enterprise of the Guyanese people.”

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• APNU, job strategy, oil, Oil and Gas

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