President Dr Irfaan Ali has been named as one of the world’s most influential rising stars under the Times100 Next category.
In 2019, Time began publishing the Time100 Next list, which spotlights 100 rising stars who are shaping the future of business, entertainment, sports, politics, science, health and more.
President Ali is featured alongside global leaders like Mark Zuckerberg, Simona Biles, Serena Williams, Ed Sheeran, Snoop Dogg and Demis Hassabis.
Here’s the excerpt on President Dr Irfaan Ali
In recent years, Guyana’s President Irfaan Ali has contended with news extraordinarily good and bad.
On the positive side, this country of over 800,000 people has one of the world’s fastest-growing economies, thanks to a discovery of offshore oil that has produced $7.5 billion from sales and royalties since 2019.
On the negative, Guyana lives next door to Venezuela, which claims part of that oil-rich territory despite its international recognition as a part of Guyana.
Ali was re-elected to a second presidential term in early September in large part because, over the past five years, his government has used the massive windfall to build roads, schools, and hospitals. Over the next five, he wants to invest in diversifying to avoid overdependence on oil prices. But he’ll need all his diplomatic skill to keep tensions with Venezuela at a simmer.
The strong mandate he just won from Guyana’s voters signals how much he’s already accomplished.
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