Oct 31, 2026
3 min read
British businesses are being urged to take a bigger stake in Guyana’s expanding economy, with £3.5 billion in UK export financing capacity available to help support eligible projects and purchases.
The invitation came during a business engagement at Jewelz by King’s Hotel in Georgetown on Friday, held as part of King Charles III’s state visit.
“Guyana is open for business, and we want to see more British companies doing business in Guyana,” Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh told British and Guyanese business leaders.
The pitch comes against a backdrop of sharply rising trade. According to figures presented at the forum, annual trade between the two countries grew from approximately £350 million in 2021 to £1.7 billion last year, with roughly £6 billion traded over the past five years.
Guyana now accounts for almost half of the UK’s trade with the Commonwealth Caribbean, making it Britain’s largest trading partner in that grouping.
Helping underpin the push for closer commercial ties is UK Export Finance (UKEF), Britain’s export credit agency. Its financing ceiling for Guyana has increased from £750 million in 2021 to £2.1 billion in 2024, £3 billion in October 2025 and £3.5 billion currently.
That ceiling represents capacity to support eligible transactions, rather than money already committed or disbursed. Government and private sector importers can seek support through direct lending or guarantees for borrowing.
The minister also highlighted UKEF’s ability to support financing of up to 100 per cent of a project’s value, with a minimum British content requirement of 20 per cent.
A recent improvement in Guyana’s Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development country risk classification—from Category 5 to Category 4—could further strengthen the appeal of that financing.
The upgrade lowers the risk premium on officially supported export credit for Guyanese transactions, making British goods and services purchased through UKEF more competitive, the forum heard.
Some of that cooperation is already taking shape.
A €61.43 million Santander Bank loan, backed by a UKEF guarantee, will finance a new arrivals terminal at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport. UKEF is also supporting a major upgrade to the Guyana Fire Service’s equipment fleet involving a British company.
Separately, the UK Caribbean Infrastructure Fund has provided financing for the 121-kilometre Linden–Mabura Hill road, the first phase of the Linden–Lethem corridor.
Further opportunities were outlined around plans for a road connection to the Berbice coast, a deepwater port and an industrial complex supplied with gas from a second pipeline.
Those developments could generate business for contractors, consulting engineers, operators, buyers and other service providers.
The investment invitation extended beyond major infrastructure and oil and gas, with agriculture, other extractive industries, services, aviation and tourism also identified as areas for British participation.
Attendees included UK High Commissioner Joseph Fisher, UK Trade Commissioner for Latin America and the Caribbean Amy Barklam, UKEF Chief Executive Officer Tim Reid, and representatives of British and Guyanese businesses.
