GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC—The Cairo-based African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) began a two-day Afreximbank Guyana Roadshow 2025 on Wednesday, marking the latest in a series of initiatives undertaken here since the Bank partnered with Guyana in 2022.
The event, which is being held under the theme “Empowering Local Content Participation for Sustainable Prosperity Through the Implementation of Afreximbank Mandate,” is being organized in partnership with the Guyana government.
“This is not just a promise. It’s something we mean to implement. Sometimes, to attain greatness, you have to finance that greatness,” Afreximbank’s Regional Chief Operating Officer for the Caribbean, Okechukwu Iherjirika, told the opening ceremony at the Marriott Hotel here.
Iherjirika stressed the importance of ensuring that local businesses benefit from Guyana’s oil wealth, saying, “When the contracts go abroad because local firms lack financing, the development potential is lost.
“This facility aims to fix that,” he said, noting that it builds on models already proven effective across Africa, particularly in oil-rich countries like Nigeria. The goal is to channel more oil-related contracts and revenues into the hands of domestic firms, generating jobs, tax revenue, and broader economic resilience.
“This is a practical step. It’s about getting deals done. We’re here to listen, engage, and start implementation,” said an Afreximbank official.
The two-day event will attract approximately 150 representatives from government institutions, manufacturers, financial bodies, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and the oil and gas sector.
In his address, Finance Minister Dr. Ashni Singh described the initiative as both timely and transformational, saying, “We’ve become an oil producer with the benefit of hindsight.
“This facility directly supports our local content ambitions and helps us translate oil revenues into real, lasting prosperity,” he said, reflecting on Guyana’s broader relationship with Afreximbank, which began with a framework agreement in 2022.
“I consider myself privileged to have engaged with Afreximbank from the beginning,” he said, adding that Guyana had already seen the benefits of the Bank’s trade platforms, project financing tools, and payment solutions.
Twelve Caribbean countries are now members of the Bank, reflecting Afreximbank’s expanding footprint in the region. Its Caribbean office, based in Bridgetown, Barbados, coordinates efforts to connect African capital and expertise with Caribbean markets.
According to Iherjirika, this expansion is part of a deliberate strategy.
“We’re not reinventing the wheel. We’re leveraging successful African models and applying them here. Guyana is ready.”
Established in 1993, Afreximbank said its core mission is to stimulate and expand intra- and extra-African trade, with a growing footprint in the Caribbean. Its regional office, based in Bridgetown, Barbados, is leading the Caribbean engagement and will spearhead this year’s Guyana Roadshow.
The 2025 Roadshow will spotlight the Bank’s one billion US dollar oil service financing facility, which aims to empower Guyanese businesses by showcasing its suite of financial and non-financial products.
Afreximbank said it had identified several strategic projects within Guyana that could catalyze intra-regional trade and economic advancement.
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