Senior Minister in the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance Dr. Ashni Singh has urged Guyanese entrepreneurs to invest in areas where they have proven skills, experience, and a clear business case, warning that opportunity alone is not enough to build a successful enterprise.
Singh made the point on Friday at the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s Business Breakfast Seminar at the Guyana Marriott Hotel in Georgetown, where he addressed business owners preparing to access new opportunities from Guyana’s expanding economy and the proposed Guyana Development Bank.
He said Guyana is now seeing demand across “literally every single sector of the economy,” from technical services required by the oil and gas industry to catering, beauty services, social media, construction, and other areas of everyday business.
“I get asked, what should I invest [in], and I typically say it almost doesn’t matter what you do,” Singh said. But he cautioned that entrepreneurs must not misread that advice as permission to chase any visible opportunity.
“It really almost does not matter what you choose, because there is growing and expanding demand for whatever it is,” Singh said. “That doesn’t mean that you can do anything.”
Singh stressed that the right investment choice must be grounded in competence, not imitation. He warned entrepreneurs against entering sectors simply because others appear to be making money.
“No minister of the government can tell you what you should invest in,” he told the audience. “Ultimately, the determination of what you are investing [in] will depend on what you are capable of doing well.”
The message comes as the government moves to establish the Guyana Development Bank, which is expected to offer microcredit loans of up to GY$3 million (US$14,400), free of collateral and interest, to entrepreneurs and small and medium-sized enterprises. The government has committed GY$40 billion (US$192 million) to the institution, with half already allocated in Budget 2026.
The bank is intended to help businesses overcome financing barriers and position more local entrepreneurs to access opportunities in sectors such as oil and gas. But Singh made clear that financing will be tied to viable projects, not ambition alone.
“We want to start establishing this bank and start dispersing this money to good entrepreneurs like yourselves who have good bankable projects,” he noted.
He said entrepreneurs must be able to show lenders that they understand the business they are entering and have the capacity to execute it.
“You can’t go into the bank to ask them for a loan to invest in a project in an area in which you have zero experience, zero track record, zero demonstrated capability,” Singh stated. “You don’t have a business plan, you don’t have a projection, and then you vex when the bank is not willing to lend you.”
Singh said business owners should examine their strengths before seeking financing, noting “Each one of us has to ask ourselves, what are we capable of doing well, where is my demonstrable strengths, where is my demonstrable track record, and therefore where is my comparative advantage and my competitive edge?”
He said Guyana’s changing economy has created new services and industries that were not widely recognized 10 or 15 years ago. He pointed to the growth of makeup artistry, event catering, online marketing, and social media-based business promotion as examples of opportunities that emerged as incomes, consumer habits, and demand changed.
“We are living in an era of limitless opportunities for those who are entrepreneurial,” Singh stated.
He linked that opportunity to wider economic growth, noting that more people are working, earning, and spending in new ways. He said this has generated demand for goods and services that would have been difficult to imagine a decade ago. Singh said the Development Bank is being created to help businesses grow, but it must remain sustainable so multiple groups of entrepreneurs can benefit.
“The idea is that this bank will be self-sustaining,” he explained. “We don’t want only the first cohort to benefit. We want a first cohort to benefit, and then a second, and a third, and a fourth.”
He said loans of up to GY$3 million will be available, but applicants must justify the amount requested. According to the Minister, the government wants the bank established quickly so funding can move to entrepreneurs with serious, bankable ideas.
