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The Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), cognisant of the crucial nature of access to finance as it relates to the development of businesses, held the third iteration of its Business Breakfast Seminar on June 19 at the Guyana Marriott Hotel. This event, which was sponsored by the Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry (GBTI), saw over 120 attendees benefiting from invaluable information on navigating ‘Finance and Banking’ in Guyana’s evolving business landscape, with expert guidance from key stakeholders in the finance sector including Chairperson of the Guyana Association of Bankers Incorporated, Ms. Nafeeza Gaffoor; Executive Director of NewHayven Merchant Bank, Mr. Kurt Kisto, and Chief Executive Officer of the GBTI, Mr. Shawn Gurcharran. Senior Minister in the Office of the President with Responsibility for Finance, Honourable Dr. Ashni Singh delivered the feature address.

President of the GCCI, Mrs. Kathy Smith in her opening remarks, highlighted the importance of this initiative, which was designed to ensure that businesses are equipped with the knowledge and resources needed to propel their operations. “Guyana is growing. Last year, over US$743 million was spent on local content utilisation—that is contracts, employment, and capacity building for Guyanese businesses and employees. We now have 1,100 companies registered on the Local Content Register and the GCCI wants to see all its members at the forefront of these opportunities,” she stated.

Further, she emphasised that as the economy expands, the demand on businesses grows, and as such, the resources available to entrepreneurs, particularly capital, must align with this increased demand, adding, “This is critical for our MSMEs who make up over 70 percent of our membership.”

Underscoring the importance of credibility in accessing financing, Mrs. Smith stated, “I have noticed that some businesses are still doing business in an informal way, and this conduct is altering the confidence the bank has in you.” She urged entrepreneurs to ensure that they formalise their operations and maintain compliance, noting, “We have seen the significant intervention by the banks to ease the bureaucracy to access to finance and for that, I applaud the excellent work that they have been doing.”

Mrs. Smith also lauded the government for its interventions in support of the business community. “This year we welcomed key legislative changes—the Financial Institutions Act and the Security Interest and Moveable Property Act. The latter is especially important as it allows businesses to use equipment, vehicles, inventory, livestock, even intellectual property as collateral for credit. This was a game-changer for the private sector,” she stated.

Ms. Nafeeza Gaffoor in her presentation focused on expanding opportunities for Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises. She stated, “We are gathered at a time of remarkable opportunity. Guyana’s economy is growing at a pace rarely seen globally. Yet, amidst this expansion, we must ensure that no segment is left behind, especially our Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises.”

Addressing the role of banks in providing access to finance, she said that over the past five years, MSME lending across the banking sector has more than tripled. “There is a persistent view that banks are risk averse, hesitant, and perhaps overly conservative. I would like to say instead that banks are risk-conscious and we are risk managers. In an emerging economy like ours with unprecedented growth, where the market is very cash intensive, documentation is often informal, compliance demands are growing and we have seen an increase in fraudulent activities, risk must be measured and managed carefully. This does not mean that we are not lending—in fact, we are lending more than ever before,” she disclosed.

In guiding the attendees on the factors that influence access to finance through commercial banks, she stated that lending is based on capacity, character, collateral, capital, conditions, competition and pricing, and compliance, positing, “When one or more of these are missing, it does not mean necessarily mean that the business is not profitable, it simply means we need to work together to strengthen the credit proposal.”

Ms. Gaffoor also addressed the challenges being expressed by businesses as it relates to access to foreign exchange. She stated, “Foreign exchange is earned, not printed…Guyana earns Foreign Exchange primarily through exports—gold, rice, bauxite, oil, sugar—we earn through Foreign Direct Investment inflows, remittances, tourism, and multilateral support. Banks are streamlining and digitising foreign exchange requests, prioritising productive sectors, and collaborating with the Bank of Guyana on frequent allocations.” The GABI Chairperson also outlined several solutions for businesses to increase their ability to access foreign currency.

Meanwhile, Mr. Kisto provided an expert overview of accessing alternative financing amidst the evolving economy. “Traditional banks remain a very important financing partner for any business in the financial tool kit. However, alternative financiers are generally more flexible, taking a bespoke approach to lending in analysing financing needs and cash flow cycles, tailoring lines of credit based on scale, terms and interest rate that work for business cycles utilising the entire financial toolkit more broadly than commercial bank lending, which by its own structure is limited by operational and regulatory parameters,” he candidly posited.

He stated that alternative finance firms are also generally less risk averse and may provide multiple loan offerings with different collateral requirements which can be positive for business owners at different stages of the growth path. He pointed to options such as private equity and Quasi-equity, venture capital and angel investing, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer lending, revenue-based financing, invoice factoring and asset lending, as well as crypto currency and blockchain-based funding mechanism.

“Why does alternative financing matter? Because access to capital should not be limited to a select few, because innovation and entrepreneurship should not be stifled by outdated financing models, and because businesses today need funding models that are agile, customised, and entrepreneurship-friendly,” he stated.

Aligned with this theme of easy financing is the GBTI GROW Programme, and the bank’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Shawn Gurcharran provided an overview of this initiative that offers a suite of products that have key features such as flexible loan amounts, highly competitive interest rates, a streamlined application process, advisory services and support, and also provides up to $30 million loans with access to working capital and business expansion support.

“When we envisioned GROW, we thought that it was needed in a rapidly growing economy. We thought it was important as a local bank to come up with a suite of products that were geared towards Micro and Small-to-Medium-sized Enterprises because we really do believe that those enterprises that may be small today, with an economy that is growing 40 percent in the last four to five years, in a very short period of time, those small enterprises will grow and become significant in the economy that we operate,” he stated.

Ultimately, he said the bank is looking to empower entrepreneurs and fuel job creation. “We like hearing jobs are going to be created because at GBTI, our tagline is ‘We see Guyana through your eyes’. When you come to us with your dreams and your plans, understand that you have a willing partner with GBTI that is willing and able to support your dreams,” he told the attendees.

The CEO also provided information on the bank’s Invoice Financing services. “We have heard the call, and we answered with this dynamic product that really looks to see what is happening in the economy and how we can support businesses. With GBTI’s Invoice Financing, you need to be registered and be a validated supplier for one of the large oil and gas companies. The terms are flexible and there are no hidden fees,” he stated.

Hon. Dr. Ashni Singh, in referencing GBTI’s invoice factoring initiative, encouraged other commercial banks to provide similar services. He stated his willingness to support commercial banks in this regard, saying, “If there are statutory or regulatory impediments to this being done more, then I am happy for the banking sector to tell me what these impediments are so that we can explore what we can do to remove those impediments.”

The minister provided an overview of Guyana’s Economic Outlook, with keen focus on private sector advancement over the last several years. He stated that Private Sector credit grew from $376. Billion to $450.6 billion between 2023 and 2024. “Together, we have done extremely well as far as growth in private sector credit is concerned. And that is the result of government policy, it’s the result of, significant effort on the part of the banks, and it’s as result of, most importantly, the result of efforts by companies like yours to put together good, bankable opportunities, taking risks, going to the banks, putting your assets up as collateral and borrowing to invest in your businesses,” he stated.

Reaffirming his commitment to private sector development, Minister Singh stated, “We want, as a government, even more to be done, and I want to say at the onset that you have our commitment that we intend to continue to push aggressively for more to be done.”

Attendees were also able to ask questions of the speakers during a panel discussion that was moderated by the GCCI’s Senior Vice President, Mr. Gavin Ramsoondar, and access on-site advice from representatives of GBTI and Scotiabank.