AS we move into the New Year 2025, the traditional wish and greeting of “A prosperous New Year,” the nostalgic Auld Lang Syne, and New Year’s resolutions now assume different and more intense meanings in the Renaissance upon which Guyana has embarked. The Guyanese Renaissance, though having much in common with the European in regards to its freshness, creativity, and involvement of ordinary folk, is different in that it has specific content such as social, economic, and political reform and a specific goal: to achieve the standard of a First World country no later than the end of the present decade.

The first stimulus to the European Renaissance was the emigration of the intellectual classes of the Eastern Roman Empire to Western Europe upon the Ottoman Islamic conquest of Constantinople and their infusion of Greco-Islamic learning and achievements in science, the arts, and technology into Western Europe. Guyana’s Renaissance was fuelled by the availability of oil revenues, which resulted in Guyana joining the league of oil-producing and exporting countries. The Guyanese leadership has carefully studied the pitfalls and successes of various comparative oil-producing countries and is determined to avoid their mistakes in the face of a very strong local and overseas lobby preaching the demoralising message that it is deterministic that Guyana must inevitably slide into those pitfalls and that, once there, there is little hope of re-emergence, as is widely believed to be the position of Nigeria.

The main disastrous pitfalls are the “Resource Curse” or the “Dutch Disease,” whereby an oil-producing country neglects its pre-oil industry and income earners and allows them to decline while focusing completely on oil. When oil revenues decline, as they will at some time, that country will be beset with widespread suffering. The second is the temptation of embezzlement of oil funds and other forms of corruption, and the third is splurging the oil revenues to the population in the illusion that an instant raising of the standard of living and development will be achieved.

Guyana is acutely aware of these pitfalls and has been taking effective measures to avoid them. Oil revenues are being employed as developmental capital for building roads and bridges to allow for the movement of goods, services, and people throughout the country, expanding eco-tourism, and opening up the hinterland regions for further income-generating activities such as mining and agriculture. Massive investments are being made in agriculture, such as resuscitating the sugar industry, improving the yields and production of the rice industry, and expanding the coconut industry with the introduction of new types of coconuts that produce substantially more water and copra than the types presently grown. Relevant training, the introduction of new crops such as millet, corn, and soya, raising the standard of livestock with the importation of improved breeds of cows, sheep, and poultry, modernising the fishing industry with the introduction of inland ponds for cultivating fish, prawns, and shrimps of various kinds, and stimulating deep-sea fishing with technical and financial assistance being given to fisherfolk and protection against foreign trawlers illegally fishing in Guyanese waters are all part of this effort.

Gold, diamond, bauxite, and manganese mining are being expanded. Exports of non-oil products have been increasing, and even before the exploitation of oil, Guyana’s growth was 9% to 12%. The non-oil sector of the economy continues to be profitable and is attracting foreign investment, notably in the hotel and eco-tourism industries. Therefore, there is no possibility that Guyana will neglect its non-oil sector, focus solely on the oil sector, and fall victim to Dutch disease.

Corruption and embezzlement have been regarded as concomitants of the oil industries in several Third World countries, and Guyana has taken every precautionary measure against this curse enveloping its oil industry. A Natural Resources Fund (NRF), based on the Norwegian model, has been established, and Parliament and the public have full knowledge of all receipts and expenditures of oil revenues. Anyone, including ministers of government, who may attempt to subvert or otherwise ignore full transparency will suffer harsh penalties, including jail terms. Guyana has one of the most stringent regimes for the protection of oil revenues in the world.

The third pitfall is the superficially attractive periodic distribution of oil revenues among the population in the belief that immediate rises in the standard of living will occur. The dangers of such mechanistic splurges are numerous and disastrous, including massive inflation that undermines the value of the country’s money, the cessation of work in productive areas of the economy other than oil, and very little saving to meet present and future contingencies. Fortunately, Guyana has rejected this method of using oil revenues, and its vociferous and enthusiastic advocates are fading away.

We will now focus on some of the main elements of the Guyanese Renaissance but will have to be selective since they encompass the whole of society. In the social sector, health and education have begun to experience revolutionary changes and developments. New state-of-the-art hospitals are being established even in the remoter districts of the hinterland, and they are being equipped with the most modern equipment. Training of requisite medical personnel is continuous, and healthcare workers with various skills are being recruited from abroad. Treatment at government institutions is absolutely free. In education, schools are being modernised, and new schools are being built in neglected areas. Educational training is intensive, and if all staffing needs cannot be met, recruitment abroad will be done as necessary. Children are being assisted with hot meals, uniforms, textbooks, and other educational necessities. Salaries are being adjusted upwards, and pensions for the aged and disabled are being instituted or increased.

An economic revolution, other than oil, is in progress, and some elements of this were mentioned above when describing the activities undertaken to guard against the Dutch Disease. One fundamental and pervading factor of this revolution is the generation of cheap power, achieved through the Gas-to-Shore project and the stimulation of widespread use of solar, wind, and hydropower, especially in the remoter hinterland regions. As mentioned, training in new fields, particularly artificial intelligence (AI), is being intensified. Export trade is being developed, and a new port in Berbice to accommodate deep-sea vessels will be completed in a year’s time, serving the vast area of northern Brazil.

Fundamental political and judicial reforms are being instituted. Work has already begun on formulating a new national constitution. Electoral corruption and dishonesty, which have plagued Guyana since independence, are being addressed with the involvement of the international community. Alleged electoral riggers are being brought before the courts. Laws are being modernised, archaic ones dropped, and the overall legal framework is made more human-friendly and functional. Law court buildings are being improved or newly constructed, more staff are being trained, and the speed and efficiency of justice delivery are being enhanced.

The Guyanese Renaissance is blossoming within the parameters it set for itself, and many of the characteristics and standards of the First World have already been achieved.