Guyana is among the most resource-rich countries in the Caribbean region, but historically, it has struggled economically. The recent discovery of oil has been opening up a broad range of opportunities that have the potential to change the trajectory of the country. Samantha Sheoprashad, of  Trifinity Solutions in Guyana, shares her thoughts on, among other things: the state of telecoms and ICT in Guyana; the degree they are being leveraged in by the Government; along with the ICT/tech-related opportunities that she now sees in Guyana.

 

This episode is also available in Apple iTunes, Google Play Music and on Stitcher!

Located in the north-eastern portion of South America, between Venezuela and Suriname, and covering just under 215,000 square kilometres (around 83,000 square miles), the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, is the only English-speaking country in South America. Although it is almost the size of the United Kingdom, Guyana’s population is about 1 percent that of the UK, with approximately 786,000 inhabitants.

Guyana is rich in natural resources, such as gold, bauxite and oil, which was more recently discovered. Its with terrain ranges from the Amazon rain forest and savannahs, to coastal plains, where much of the population resides,

Thanks to the discovery of large oil reserves, Guyana has been experiencing a resurgence over the last few years, and has become one of the most attractive locations in the Caribbean for investment. However, what does the country’s telecoms and ICT space look like, and to what degree is it being leveraged? These are just a few of the questions we will be answering in this instalment of our ‘Know Your Neighbours’ series.

 

Introducing our guest

Samantha Sheoprashad

Samantha Sheoprashad has a  background in Computer Science, and is one of the Co-Founders of Trifinity Solutions, a digital media agency in Guyana, which specialises in web development  application development  graphic design. At Trifinity Solutions, Samantha has responsibility for systems development, marketing programs, brand management and developing digital solutions. At the company, she is also a Multimedia Designer and a Facebook Developer.

Outside of her work at Trifinity Solutions, Samantha is a social entrepreneur and is very youth and community-focussed, with a deep sense of service. To that end, she is a CARICOM Youth Ambassador and Global Peace Ambassador, and in 2017, she was one of the recipients of the Queen’s Young Leaders Award, for outstanding community work in Guyana.

 

 

Some insight into our conversation

As much as Samantha discussed the state of telecoms and ICT in Guyana, her perspective was strongly imbued with her insights and experience as an entrepreneur, and her passion for youth and for her community.  However, key questions posed during the course of the conversation with Samantha included the following: 

  1. Can you give us a quick overview of Guyana?
  2. With regard to telecommunications and ICT, how developed is it in Guyana? How robust is the competition in the market?
  3. How accessible are those services across Guyana?
  4. Are telecoms and ICT services affordable in Guyana?
  5. In your opinion, to what degree is the Government and private sector in Guyana leveraging ICT?
  6. As someone who works a lot with youth, how might their thoughts and perspective with regard to ICT and technology differ what might currently be the status quo in Guyana?
  7. What is it like being an entrepreneur in Guyana? What do you think about the country’s start-up environment/ start-up culture?
  8. If someone outside Guyana wants to do business in Guyana, what are key steps that you would recommend?
  9. What are some of the tech-related or tech business related-trends you are seeing in Guyana?
  10. What do you believe are the strengths of the ICT/tech space in Guyana?
  11. What are some of the challenges Guyana might have to address to improve ICT there?
  12. What are some of the ICT/tech-related opportunities that you see in Guyana?

 

We would love to hear from you!

Do leave us a comment either here beneath this article, or on our Facebook or LinkedIn pages, or via Twitter, @ICTPulse.

 

Select links

Below are links to some of the organisations and resources that either were mentioned during the episode, or otherwise, might be useful:

 

 

Image credit: Wikipedia; Pixabay; amanderson2 (flickr); Wikimedia Commons; S Sheoprashad

Music credit: Ray Holman