World Bank Group Representative

July 02, 2024

 Diletta Doretti

World Bank Group Representative for Guyana, as of July 1, 2024, is Diletta Doretti. The appointment aims at unifying country level leadership across the institution to facilitate better support for the public and private sector priorities.

The newly created position is to provide a single point of contact for full access to the full breadth of World Bank Group products and services and will enhance the institutions’ ability to address global challenges and drive development with speed, efficiency, and impact.

Doretti said, “Our goal is to increase operations in Guyana and having a unified leadership to partner with the government and the private sector will ensure that we can deliver impactful results . We are exploring key sectors including agribusiness, tourism, education, access to finance for small and medium-sized enterprises, transportation and logistics infrastructure.”

The World Bank Group is working in Guyana to advance human capital, having a particular focus on education and strengthening climate resilience to flood risk management. Since Doretti previously led the engagement of the World Bank Group with Guyana’s public sector it is only fitting that she will now be responsible for deepening and managing the partnership with Guyanese authorities and the private sector.

Doretti will also be developing integrated solutions that span both sectors to ensure the effective implementation of the World Bank Group’s engagement framework in Guyana. The World Bank said that,

“Since joining in 2002, Doretti has held various positions at the World Bank, including as Senior Private Sector Development Specialist for the World Bank West Africa region, based in Mali. She has extensive World Bank experience, including country engagements and developing strategies for private sector development, entrepreneurship, and innovation.”

The introduction of joint country representation is an important step towards building a stronger World Bank Group. Guyana is one of 21 World Bank Group offices transitioning to a single World Bank Group Country Manager or Resident Representative for the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), International Development Association (IDA), the International Finance Corporation (IFC), and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA).

Having a bold vision to create a world free of poverty on a livable planet, the World Bank provides in over 100 countries financing, advice and innovative solutions that improve lives by creating jobs, strengthening economic growth and confronting the most urgent global development challenges. The World Bank Group is one of the largest sources of funding and knowledge for developing countries. It consists of the World Bank, including the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA); the International Finance Corporation (IFC); the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA); and the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). For more information, please visit www.worldbank.org ,      www.miga.org and       www.ifc.org.

 

 

 

 

Conflict-of-interest as Hughes remains at law firm despite O&G ties

July 4, 2024

– conflicts of interest between 2015-2016 necessitate investigation

The General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party, Dr Bharrat Jagdeo, has raised concerns about a potential conflict of interest in Nigel Hughes’ election as the Alliance For Change’s (AFC) leader.

Hughes, an attorney-at-law, has indicated an interest in contesting for the presidency at the upcoming election and has historically had ties to significant entities in the oil and gas industry.

Jagdeo’s concerns were triggered by an article published by Demerara Waves, which was headlined “Nigel Hughes will not leave law firm now, despite conflict-of-interest concerns with oil sector,” immediately after being elected leader.

The article, released on June 30, 2024, reported Nigel Hughes’ statement that he would not sever his connections with his law firm – Hughes, Fields and Stoby – which represents ExxonMobil,  unless elected into the government.

“Every Guyanese should read [the article and] how obscene it is. I can’t convey the feeling of revulsion that I felt. This is someone aspiring to the highest office in the country, who has just been elected the leader of a party. He wants to be a presidential candidate…Now I thought when you’re running for office…you have to have some lofty ideals.”

This is typical behaviour of Hughes. He recalled his resignation from the AFC party in 2016 just days before the government began concluding negotiations with ExxonMobil on the 2016 Production Sharing Agreement (PSA). He referenced the Clyde and Company report commissioned by the coalition in an attempt to justify that the lopsided 2016 agreement was not deprived. However, the report revealed some significant information.

“It says that on the 19th of May, 2015, EEPGL sent a proposed escrow process flowchart setting out various sets and timelines for the execution of a new PSA and that is what would become the 2016 agreement. In the period from May 2015, Nigel Hughes was still chairman of the party, the negotiations started, because Exxon, their own report said, sent this document over, proposing a timeline…

Hughes lied about this when asked by Global Witness.”

The general secretary also called attention to the Global Witness’s report titled ‘Signed Away’, published in February 2020. In January 2021 the report was withdrawn, but Global Witness, in a statement on the withdrawal, said,

“We stand by the integrity of the evidence we have presented.”

Contained in the report is Hughes’ denial of his connection to former Minister of Natural Resources, Raphael Trotman, and oil giant ExxonMobil. However, the Guyanese press reported that Trotman became a minister in May 2015 – 11 months before Hughes relinquished his AFC position in April 2016.

“Here is the general secretary of the party, negotiating with Exxon and the Chairman of the party is Exxon’s lawyer. In the PSA and bridging deed, both have listed, as their local offices, his law firm, in both the PSA.”

These damning pieces of information may require a formal investigation into concerning conflicts of interest.

As the AFC elects a new executive, Jagdeo pointed out that the party consists of recycled politicians with a history of corruption and questionable actions while holding public office. The recent PNC/R congress has also raised concerns for Jagdeo due to the extended duration of the elections’ results for the party’s Central Executive Committee (CEC).

He finds it worrying because in a recent PPP congress; despite having double candidates for the elections, the internal results were produced in less than 24 hours. This could mean that something illegal is happening behind the scenes, or the party is entirely incompetent and directly questions the trustworthiness of the party.

“If you can’t manage your internal elections, if your competitors are saying: ‘you rigged your internal process’, then how are you going to say to the people of this country that you have changed…and you respect democratic norms?”   He questioned.

 

 

 

 

EU boosts funding for forest management

Jul 24, 2024 News

The European Union (EU) Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) between the EU and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) will add benefits to the Government of Guyana. The Ministry of Natural Resources disclosed that the agreement will provide additional funds to assist implementation of the VPA. The first VPA implementation licence will be issued in 2026, a phase that the EU will fund.

In November 2023, EU Ambassador to Guyana Rene Van Nes announced at the Joint Monitoring and Review Committee (JMRC) meeting that the EU would increase funds for the VPA implementation.

The main objective of the agreement is to improve compliance of the Guyana forest sector governance system with the EU Forest Law Governance and Trade (EU FLEGT) requirements including implementation of the Guyana Timber Legality Assurance System. The agreement also aims to strengthen participation and improve compliance of stakeholders in the VPA process.

Enhanced information exchange for FLEGT compliance between the EU and Guyana partners, ensuring the long-term sustainability of the FLEGT VPA and supporting capacities at the GFC and Forest sector level are also goals of the agreement

The EU subsidy is in addition to other funding given for the FLEGT VPA process which includes support for the Digitization of the Timber Legality Assurance System. The EU FLEGT is supported by an Action Plan that sets out a range of measures to address forest governance and law enforcement challenges in the sector.

A key element of the FLEGT Action Plan is the VPA, a bilateral agreement between the EU and a timber-producing (partner) country. The VPAs aim to support governance reform and strengthen enforcement activities in the partner countries with commitments to improve transparency, accountability, legislative clarity and other aspects of governance.

A VPA Partner is empowered to issue FLEGT licences to exporters under national FLEGT Licensing Schemes based on a Legality Assurance System (LAS) which ensures that only legally produced timber products are exported to the EU.

 

 

 

 

Guyana pioneers monetising forest resources

July 24, 2024

As Guyana pursues clean power on a bedrock of fossil fuels, the Inter-American Development Bank’s (IDB) Country Representative, Lorena Solorzano Salazar lauded the announcement by the authorities to mobilise a global alliance on biodiversity and craft a financing model for ecosystem services.

President, Dr. Irfaan Ali disclosed the bold move during the opening ceremony of the Caribbean Investment Forum from July 10 to 12. The Energy Perspectives podcast, a programme powered by the Guyana Energy Conference and Supply Chain Expo, engaged the IDB representative at the forum regarding the disclosure.

Salazar described Guyana as “a pioneer” in monetising its natural resources, as in the case with its forests. Driven by the Low Carbon Development Strategy LCDS), Hess Corporation and the Government signed a historic agreement in December 2022 when the American oil producer agreed to purchase carbon credits and pay a minimum of US$750 million between 2022 and 2032.

This multi-year agreement is for the purchase of 37.5 million high-quality REDD+ carbon credits (current and future issuance) that are independently verified to represent permanent and additional emissions reductions. REDD+ (reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation) is a global conservation mechanism created by the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention in support of the Paris Agreement and is one of the largest private-sector forest preservation agreements in the world.

Salazar believes this successful carbon credits model demonstrates that Guyana “is very aware of climate change and the impact it has on the world…Having this mechanism (global alliance on biodiversity) allows the country to offer a market to support the decarbonisation of the more developed countries that do not have forests or wetlands. So I would say it is very positive.”

She l reminded that Guyana was one of the first countries in the world to monetise the natural resources of the country, initially with Norway and now it is part of the volunteer market in selling carbon credits. By using the success of carbon credits as a blueprint for biodiversity, she said it is clearly a good opportunity and “Guyana is taking advantage of that…so that is good.”

In the first phase of Guyana’s low carbon vision, where payments for forest climate services were to come from a bilateral partner, Guyana entered the Guyana-Norway Partnership in 2009.

During  2009 to 2015, Guyana earned US$212.6 million dollars in payments for forest climate services from Norway, which reached US$220.8 million when investment income was included.

These revenues were invested in renewable energy, protection against climate change, land titling, job creation and other priorities in the initial LCDS. The 2009 model also paved the way for the expansion and modernisation of the document, now titled LCDS 2030.

STATUS OF BIODIVERSITY

According to the LCDS 2030, Guyana holds extraordinary levels of biodiversity, situated in two of the world’s most biodiversity rich zones: The Amazon region and the Guiana Shield. The country is home to over 900 species of birds, 625 strictly freshwater fishes, 250 mammals, 250 amphibians, and 210 reptiles, for a grand total of at least 2,285 vertebrates.

In maps of global species diversity, Guyana occupies global hotspots for birds, mammals, amphibians and freshwater mammals, amphibians, reptiles, fishes, crabs, and crayfish. Nearly 100 of the vertebrate species known from Guyana occur nowhere else on Earth. These include:

• •  75 endemic fish species, such as the armored catfish – Ancistrus Kellerae – known only from the Kuribrong River below Kaieteur Falls;
  • 19 endemic amphibian species, such as the globally endangered Kaei Rock Frog, known only from the Maringma Tepui; and
  • Four endemic reptile species, such as the lizard Pantepuisaurus Rodriguesi, known only from the Maringma Tepui.

 

 

 

Energy & Food security

 July 22, 2024

Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs lauds leadership in the Caribbean and Latin American region.

“Guyana continues to lead on critical issues in the Americas such as energy, food security, climate solutions, and restoring stability to Haiti…”

Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Brian A Nichols is quoted as saying by the United States of America Embassy in Guyana. The United States and Guyana held a virtual Strategic Dialogue on July 16 to discuss issues of mutual interest, including climate resilience, food security and energy transition.

Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Western Hemisphere Affairs, Daniel P Erikson; State Department Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs Brian A. Nichols, and Special Advisor to the Vice President for the Western Hemisphere Scott Winton led the US interagency delegation of representatives from the Department of State, USAID, the Department of Defense and the Export-Import Bank of the United States.

Foreign Secretary Robert Persaud led the Guyanese delegation, which included local ministries and the Guyana Defence Force.

During this first Guyana-United States Strategic Dialogue, the two sides discussed ideas for advancing the bilateral economic agenda, underscored the need for good governance and institutional strengthening, and pledged continued defence and security cooperation.

Both delegations recognised the prospect of an active 2024 hurricane season, expressed support for those affected by Hurricane Beryl and reiterated their commitment to the success of the Multinational Security Support mission in Haiti.

 

 

 

 

Flaring and emissions from Hammerhead

July 22, 2024

In January of 2023 offshore flaring in Guyana peaked at 71.88 Million Standard Cubic Feet (MMSCF)

In its Project Summary submitted to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), made public on July 15,  ExxonMobil issued a warning that Air emissions resulting from the project have the potential to affect ambient air quality in the project area on a localized basis and to contribute to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

Activities from the project including:

• • • flaring of associated natural gas;
    • power generation;
    • other marine vessel and support aircraft combustion;
    • fugitive emissions from crude oil storage and offloading and
    • miscellaneous fuel combustion sources, including incineration deck cranes, and emergency generators among others can affect the air quality and climate.

The document states, “Localized, increased concentrations of criteria pollutants in ambient air could contribute to health concerns in exposed humans and wildlife. Combustion of hydrocarbons from project activities could contribute to GHG emissions.”

Exxon also cautioned in its Project Summary that the increased demand for limited emergency and health services in Guyana, and a slight increased risk of communicable disease transmission could potentially result from project activities and influence community health and wellbeing.

“Introduction of limited levels of foreign specialized labor could potentially have community health and wellbeing impacts. The development could potentially impact community health and wellbeing in the Project AOI (Area of Influence) due to onshore traffic, social interaction, or as a result of non-routine, unplanned events (e.g., spill or release).”

In another section of the Project Summary ExxonMobil outlined measures that will be employed to avoid these impacts. Among its plans are measures to minimize non-routine flaring during compression trips and maintenance.

Flaring refers to the burning of gas associated with oil production. The safest but least cost effective option is for the gas to be re-injected into the wells. Another measure is the installation of waste heat recovery units (WHRUs) on turbine generators, where feasible, to reduce the demand of more power generation or fired heaters, thus decreasing fuel gas consumption.

Exxon would “optimize gas turbine maintenance to ensure that gas turbines are not overhauled more often than needed and also to ensure overhauls are completed at the right time, in alignment with other FPSO maintenance activities to reduce the need to flare.”

To address the impacts on community health and wellbeing, the company committed to the implementation of a community safety program for potentially impacted schools and neighborhoods to increase awareness and minimize potential for community impacts due to vehicle incidents.

The Hammerhead development will produce between 120,000 to 180,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd). The project is located in the south central portion of the Stabroek Block, approximately 160 km from Georgetown. Current plans include drilling via drill ships to produce oil using approximately 14 to 30 production and injection wells.

Production is expected to begin in 2029 subject to the necessary regulatory approvals and operate for at least 20 years.

 

 

 

Guyana, UK defence & security partnership

July 20, 20240

The defence and security partnership between Guyana and the United Kingdom has reached unprecedented levels.

President Dr Irfaan Ali told guests at a reception hosted by the British High Commission in Georgetown to celebrate the birthday of King Charles III,

“I want to highlight the growing strength of our relationship at the security and defence level. Never in the history of our relationship would we have had the type of military, security, defence exchanges, training, coordination, collaboration that we have today and that is remarkable.”

Noting that this partnership reflects a shared commitment to fostering peace and stability in the hemisphere, the president lauded the British government for unwavering support in the border controversy with Venezuela.

“I express our nation’s appreciation for the support of the United Kingdom as rendered for the protection of our territorial integrity and sovereignty. The United Kingdom has always been prompt in expressing such support.”

British High Commissioner to Guyana Jane Miller reminded of the prompt visit to Guyana by the U K Minister for the Americas, Caribbean and Overseas Territories David Rutley in December 2023, to reinforce the UK’s steadfast support and solidarity with Guyana after Venezuela’s controversial referendum on the Essequibo region, .

In Guyana, Rutley confirmed the UK’s unequivocal support for Guyana against Venezuela’s territorial claims. “I am in Guyana, a fellow Commonwealth member, to offer the UK’s unequivocal backing to our Guyanese friends. The border issue has been settled for over 120 years. Sovereign borders must be respected wherever they are in the world.”

He pledged that the UK would continue its collaboration with regional partners and international bodies, to help protect Guyana’s territorial integrity. This unwavering support was further demonstrated when the UK deployed the HMS Trent, an offshore patrol vessel, to Guyana later that month to conduct routine defence cooperation and exercises with the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) and the Coast Guard.

Since then, Ambassador Miller noted that the Ministry of Defence of the United Kingdom is “actively involved” in reviewing the capabilities of the GDF.

“We will be doing some training alongside engagement with the Department of Business and Trade and UK businesses to enhance Guyana’s security and defence.”

Earlier in the year, Guyana hosted the United Kingdom and Caribbean Heads of Defence Conference, a two-day event where top security personnel from the region and UK recommitted to continued collaboration and maintenance of peace in the hemisphere.

 

 

 

IDB US$400,000 loan to aid border trade, food security

July 18, 2024

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) approved a US$400,000 loan for the Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce to bolster food security efforts and strengthen trade and logistics at the Guyana-Brazil border and the Guyana-Suriname border.

IDB project documents state the government expressed interest in upgrading the Linden – Lethem transport corridor, a key artery for development of communities in the Guyana hinterland and the regional integration with the Roraima and Amazonas states of Brazil.

The road is paved on the Brazilian side but stops at the border in Bomfim. A 454 Km, largely unpaved road connecting Georgetown with the border is hazardous with dust in the dry season and impassable in sections in the rainy season where passage relies on low embankments, timber bridges and ferry crossings.

Road works are ongoing on the first 25 kilometres of the Linden-to-Lethem Highway commencing from Linden. The project is funded by a US$112 million loan from the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), a grant of £50 million (US$66 million) from the United Kingdom under the Caribbean Infrastructure Partnership Fund (CIPF), and US$12 million from the Guyana Government.

While the current emphasis of the Government is on road construction, to create a reliable and safe land link with Brazil, increase cross-border trade and strengthen food security, the IDB said it is evident that the land connection must be considered within a wider framework to have a positive developmental impact.

The IDB said the US$400,000 allotment is concerned with the broader economic and social development objectives related to strengthening trade. In a breakdown of the US$400,000 allotment, the Bank noted that US$25,000 will allow for the provision of technical inputs on preferential tariffs, investment provisions and trade facilitation to the Government of Guyana for future trade negotiations, whether bilateral or regionally.

The sum of US$50,000 is expected to finance activities related to policy dialogue and knowledge dissemination in relation to bilateral or regional trade agreement negotiations, with particular emphasis on Brazil. These activities will consider the elaboration of communications materials and workshops which will support negotiations and consensus-building.

US$275,000 is allocated to conceptual designs for improvement of the Lethem-Bonfim border crossing and the Guyana-Suriname border crossing. This includes:

• • market analysis of trade flows;
  • diagnosis of existing physical infrastructure,
  • logistics and goods clearance processes;
  • status of trade policy (e.g. transit agreement),
  • trade facilitation and regulatory measures;
  • policy and investment recommendations; and
  • conceptual designs for the improved logistics flow of goods across both borders.

Proposals undertaken in 2019 for the border at Lethem-Bomfim will be taken into consideration.

US$50,000 will fund resources for a consultancy to monitor activities of this project lasting 36 months.