According to DPI, Minister of State, Joseph Harmon, at his weekly post-Cabinet briefing, said the agreement was recently laid before Cabinet. The agreement was signed on September 19, 2018, in Kuwait between Minister Jordan and the Islamic Development Bank’s (IsDB) Vice President of Sector Operations Mansur Muhtar, and is aimed at improving country’s power supply through the GPL.
The $4.2BILLION (US$20M) loan is part of the utility company’s Upgrade Programme, a component of its development and Expansion Programme for 2014 to 2021.
Describing the historic occasion as a celebration of the first loan to be granted to Guyana by the IsDB, Jordan noted: “It cemented our growing relationship and the proactive use of the indicative resource envelope for Guyana… [the loan agreement] incorporates necessary reforms and upgrades to reduce losses and improve the quality and reliability of electricity supply and will, at the same time help to transform Guyana’s infrastructural landscape, boost our manufacturing sector and improve the quality of life of our citizens…”.
According to the Jordan, the government looks forward to working with the IsDB on projects in several sectors, including agriculture.
During the period 27-29 November 2017, the Islamic Development Bank’s (IsDB) mounted a mission to Guyana to develop a medium-term work plan for the period 2018-2022. That plan outlines a pipeline of projects that the bank can support over the next five years. The IsDB has a resource envelope of over $188BILLION (US$900M) that is potentially available from which the government can source.
The potential areas of collaboration between the IsDB and the Government of Guyana cover several development sectors including agriculture, banking and finance, human development, energy and rural development.
