Guyana, from misery to the rank of the richest in the world

"Many people have no idea of ​​the size of this project, it is huge, they will be the richest country in the hemisphere and potentially the richest in the world." The speaker is the author. US Ambbadador, Perry Holloway, in Guyana, a small country in South America. the second poorest country in the region. What's Holloway about? From the gigantic discovery of oil reserves off Guiana, which will convert this country from "Cinderella to Queen".

Guyana, the only English-speaking country in South America, has discovered such huge oil reserves that it is estimated that by 2025, its GDP will increase between 300% and 1,000%. It seems exaggerated to say that it will be the richest country in the world, but if you take into account its population of only 750,000, the wealth of Guyana will be catapulted into the stratosphere. ExxonMobil, the main operator in Guyana, has announced the discovery of more than 5,500 million barrels of oil in Atlantic waters. The money will certainly be useful, says the BBC. This former British colony has high rates of unemployment and poverty.

Guyana should learn from the lessons of the past to avoid making mistakes. The discovery of large oil reserves in developing countries has exacerbated existing corruption, which has led to new oil wealth being stolen and wasted. Something that was already called the "curse of oil". Seeing Venezuela manages to understand the phenomenon. And in Guyana, "corruption is endemic," says Troy Thomas, director of the local branch of NGO Transparency International, at the BBC. Thomas worries about the oil curse. And a recent political crisis may be an early sign of the effects of this curse.

p20-f3-cyv (SCE_ID = 319656) .jpg

In a note published last year, CNN had already warned against an evocative title: "This small country of South America will blow up oil: will it benefit?" The discovery of the reserves took place in 2015. But Exxon continued to discover more. On Thursday, he announced his 13th discovery on the country's coast at Yellowtail-1 Stabroek Block. "There is a realistic possibility that this is transforming the country's economy," Pavel Molchanov, vice president and equity researcher at Raymond James told CNN. "It's particularly impressive for a small country like Guyana."

When the first batch of oil begins to flow, what ExxonMobil expects to become in 2020, Guyana could reap billions of dollars almost immediately. By 2025, ExxonMobil wants to produce 750,000 barrels of oil a day. In French Guiana, a democratic republic, there are two parties made up of descendants of African slaves, on the one hand, and descendants of Indian servants, on the other.

What did you think of this news?