Road to Growth in Guyana

Guyana is transforming rapidly. It is one of the fastest growing economies in the world with a GDP growth rate of more than 20%. Much of this growth can be attributed to the strong entrepreneurial spirit of Guyanese women and the government’s commitment to supporting them.  

Guyana has a huge number of women owned businesses, but our research identified a demand for business training and skills development to support women entrepreneurs in growing and sustaining their businesses—that’s where Road to Growth comes in! 

We have run our seven-week intensive Road to Growth business training programme in Guyana since 2021 with the support of our partners, the ExxonMobil Foundation and ActionINVEST Caribbean Inc. 

Why did we bring Road to Growth to Guyana?

Road to Growth is one of the Foundation’s six flagship programmes. The intensive seven-week business management programme equips women entrepreneurs in low and middle income countries with business skills, financial literacy, networks and confidence so they can achieve business growth. The programme also presents the women who participate with networking opportunities within the group, which serves as a highly successful professional and personal support system. 

In Guyana, Road to Growth takes place entirely in person, as personal connection is a pillar of the country’s culture. We found that offering an exclusively in-person training has led to a 20% increase in completion rate from participants. 

So far, 263 Guyanese women have participated in Road to Growth and have seen fantastic results.

Now, we’re taking our support a step further by expanding the programme to more remote areas and opening it up to women whose businesses are not yet registered, as this is more common in Guyana. This will allow us to reach more Guyanese women entrepreneurs than ever before.