A closer look at a strategic U.S. ally in the Caribbean and South America.

BY VANESSA SINGH JOHANNES
AND HUNTER P. WHITE

Guyana is an American ally that has emerged as one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, driven by an oil boom that has transformed the country’s economic trajectory.

Country Overview and Economic Development

The relatively tiny and unknown country is a key American partner and ally that is poised to grow in commercial and geopolitical significance, as signaled in part by a March 2025 visit by the then-newly appointed U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Guyanese entities and individuals stand to be increasingly involved in in acquisitions, divestitures, energy and infrastructure project financing, and cross-border and government investigations, including those related to FCPA, human trafficking, fraud, and money laundering matters. Investors in Guyana and multinational companies active in the region should be familiar with the potential compliance risks raised by this increase in business and enforcement activity.

Guyana’s growing importance on the world stage is due to several reasons. For one, it is neighbors with Venezuela, a country of focus for the Trump Administration. For another, Guyana’s 83,000 square ft. mass, sandwiched between Venezuela, Suriname, and Brazil, is comprised of largely undeveloped Amazonian rainforests (where, according to folklore, the “Land of El Dorado” is hidden and Guyana’s signature rum, “El Dorado,” gets its name). Guyana is also the only English-speaking country on the continent and culturally considered “West Indian,” having been a British colony and commonwealth until 1966. This adds to the country’s appeal for foreign — and especially American — investors. Along with Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana is a founding member of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), an organization established to promote economic integration and development in the region.[4] And its population of nearly one million is diverse, and tracing its lineages to Africa (as former slaves), India and China (as former indentured servants), and Portugal (as former traders).

Economically, while Guyana has historically been ranked as one of the poorest countries in the Americas, the 2016 discovery of offshore oil reserves, now known as the Stabroek Block catapulted it onto a vastly different trajectory. Indeed, Guyana’s economy has grown at a staggering pace recently and the country is now set to record the fourth-highest GDP per capita in the Americas, after the United States, Canada, and the Bahamas. Its key corporate partner in the production of oil is ExxonMobil, which has a 45% stake in the consortium the jointly operates and holds exploration and production rights in the Stabroek Block. (Chevron and China’s CNOOC hold the remaining stakes, with 30% and 25% respectively.) Other key partners, such as TotalEnergies, Baker Hughes, SBM Offshore, and Axess Group, have established operations in Guyana to support the growing energy sector. Due to the exponential growth in oil production, Guyana’s gross domestic product expanded by more than 40% annually between 2022 and 2024. The imports into Guyana also reflect a changing economy. Refined petroleum, automotives, delivery trucks, and construction vehicles, and manufacturing parts account for the majority of imports, signaling that Guyana is headed towards stronger infrastructure and development.

Guyana’s Energy and Infrastructure Boom

In 2023, Guyana attracted $7.2 billion in foreign direct investment. Sustaining the oil and gas industries in Guyana has brought a tremendous boon to other sectors servicing ExxonMobil and foreign investors, leading to significant development of, and foreign funding towards, infrastructure (predominantly roads and bridges), commercial and residential real estate), hospitality, tourism, and healthcare. With respect to infrastructure, China has been a longstanding investor via its broad “Belt and Road Initiative.” Through this initiative, China has funded renovations to the Cheddi Jagan International Airport and is building a new Demerara River bridge. Chinese firms are also active in the mining and commercial real estate sectors. Zijin Mining, for instance, acquired goldfields in 2020 and is expanding into lithium and rare earth minerals.

Other countries, including Qatar, have their eyes on investing in Guyana. Qatar’s Assets Group, Inc., for example, is developing a $300 million Seafront Resort and Convention Center in the country’s capital, Georgetown. Brazilian firms are involved in various highway projects to help connect Guyana and Brazil and enhance regional trade. Austria’s Vamed Engineering is constructing two major hospitals, including a $161 million facility in New Amsterdam. The United States is backing a $2 billion Gas-to-Energy project, supported by a $500 million loan guarantee from the U.S. Export-Import Bank, to reduce electricity costs and emissions, increase power generation capacity, reduce reliance on imported fuels, and create opportunities for industrial development and exports.

Guyana’s tourism sector is also ramping up to meet predicted future needs. In 2024, visitor arrivals reached a record 371,272, a significant increase from 82,000 in 2020. A surge in hotel construction has occurred in the past few years, with Aiden by Best Western, Four Points by Sheraton, AC Marriott, Hyatt Place, and Courtyard by Marriott making plans to add 1,300 rooms within the Georgetown area by 2026. The Four Points is set to become the first EDGE Advanced-certified hotel in the Caribbean, based on its energy-efficient and sustainable practices. To help train the more than 22,000 individuals projected to work in the hospitality industry, the government has rolled out workforce training programs and begun the construction of a National Hospitality Training Institution.

The government is also promoting interconnectedness among hotels, tour operators, and local businesses to improve consistency among tourism experiences and counteract perceived concerns regarding safety, infrastructure, and accessibility. Indeed, while tourism is on the rise, infrastructure outside the capital city of Georgetown and major villages remains poor, making it difficult to reach would-be tourist destinations like Kaieteur Falls, the Iwokrama Rainforest, and the Rupununi Savannahs. Additionally, many outfitters also lack proper technology systems for website bookings and credit card payments, making the accessibility of organizing a trip difficult for non-Guyanese or those seeking a higher-end customer experience.

Regulatory Developments

Guyana’s revenue, while transformative, has introduced new challenges for governance, fiscal management, and equitable development. To manage this rapid growth, Guyana has modernized several key laws and institutions. The 2023 Petroleum Activities Act replaced a decades-old legal regime with one of the most advanced regulatory frameworks in the Western Hemisphere. The new law introduced higher royalty rates (10%), a lower cost recovery ceiling (65%), and a 10% corporate tax on future oil agreements. In parallel, the Local Content Act (2021) aims to prioritize Guyanese workers and firms in oil sector operations, while the Natural Resource Fund Act (2021) seeks to ensure transparent management of oil revenues. Further institutional reforms include updates to arbitration law, progress in anti-money laundering (AML/CFT) protocols, and compliance with international standards like the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative.

However, the regulatory environment remains bifurcated. The original production sharing agreement for the massive Stabroek Block, signed in 2016, remains in force and contains terms viewed by many as overly favorable to oil companies. Under that agreement, the Guyanese government pays the corporate taxes of the oil consortium, which has sparked debate over fiscal fairness and compliance with newer legislation. Despite these concerns, Guyana has made tangible progress in strengthening transparency, legal certainty, and the overall investment climate.

Guyana’s oil and gas industry has continued to grow at an extraordinary pace, attracting foreign companies eager to capitalize on its offshore reserves. While ExxonMobil remains a dominant force through its leadership of the Stabroek Block consortium, other international firms have expanded operations to tap into new opportunities. The country faces the dual challenge of managing unprecedented economic expansion and ensuring effective oversight of oil revenues and contracts. Transparency in royalty rates, taxation, and public spending continues to be a critical issue as Guyana seeks to translate its boom into sustainable, broad-based development.

International Trade and Customs

While Guyana’s regulatory modernization has improved investor confidence, American entities must also consider the extraterritorial reach of U.S. law, particularly the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and its sister statute, the Foreign Extortion Prevention Act (FEPA). The FCPA prohibits U.S. individuals and companies from offering bribes to foreign officials, and it remains one of the most vigorously enforced anti-corruption laws in the world. On the flip side, FEPA, passed in 2023, aims to close a gap with the FCPA by targeting the demand side of corruption (not just the supply side), and making it illegal for foreign officials to solicit or accept bribes from U.S. individuals or companies.

In early 2025, FCPA enforcement experienced a temporary pause under a U.S. executive order aimed at reducing regulatory burdens on American businesses. However, this pause was short-lived. The Department of Justice (DOJ) resumed enforcement in June 2025, issuing updated guidelines to refocus the FCPA on protecting U.S. national and economic security interests. Going forward, DOJ enforcement will emphasize serious misconduct, with an emphasis on conduct that involves cartels or FTOs, or otherwise threatens national security.

This updated approach suggests that American investors in Guyana, particularly in the oil and gas sector, will remain under close scrutiny. Given the prominence of state actors and regulatory officials in oil licensing, infrastructure, and permitting, even routine business interactions can trigger FCPA and FEPA exposure. Investors should implement robust anti-corruption compliance programs, conduct thorough due diligence on local partners and agents, and maintain internal reporting mechanisms to ensure alignment with DOJ expectations. Transparency, documentation, and a commitment to ethical conduct are not optional on this front; rather they are strategic imperatives, as recent DOJ indictments have indicated.

Compliance Concerns Raised by U.S. Treatment of Cartels as FTOs

On his first day in office, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order designating drug cartels “foreign terrorist organizations.”[5] While Guyana does not have powerful, established drug cartels like Mexico or Colombia, businesses operating in Guyana, particularly those with international connections or those in industries susceptible to organized crime, should be aware of the broader implications. Indeed, Guyana is a significant transit point for drug trafficking, has porous borders, and still relies upon many underdeveloped and loosely monitored ports, remote airstrips, and intricate river networks for trade. In June 2025, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned four Guyanese nationals and two Colombian nationals responsible for trafficking large quantities of cocaine from South America to the United States, Europe, and the Caribbean. Moreover, several key Guyanese businesses and individuals, including some of the wealthiest families in Guyana, have faced scrutiny by the U.S. in recent years, negatively impacting U.S. investments and operations in Guyana. As recently as early October 2025, Nazar and Azruddin Mohamed, two Guyanese nationals, were indicted by a federal grand jury in Miami on wire fraud and money laundering charges related to a complex gold trading scheme.

These developments highlight an important consideration for investors operating or investing in Guyana: U.S. authorities are paying closer attention to foreign partnerships and counterparties in regions historically affiliated with organized crime and cartels. Investors should understand that shifts in a local partner’s legal or regulatory status can lead to significant operational, legal, and reputational challenges for them, and therefore necessitate a proactive approach to risk management.

For starters, since business practices in the region historically lag behind compliance standards followed by more advanced economies, conducting proper due diligence with partners is of utmost importance. Such considerations cannot be overlooked by businesses, who need to be attuned to several concerns:

Financial Institutions: Banks and other financial institutions operating in Guyana should seek to mitigate the risk of inadvertently dealing with FTOs and associated entities and individuals. Effective mitigation efforts would include enhanced customer screening and ongoing monitoring against U.S. Treasury Department lists, such as OFAC’s Specially Designated National (SDN) list; verification of Ultimate Beneficial Ownership (UBO) of third-party entities, and the use of compliance tools to detect suspicious activity.

Supply Chain Concerns: Companies sourcing goods or services from regions known to be influenced by designated cartels could face disruptions or be subjected to additional due diligence requirements. Businesses should consider conducting more expansive supply chain mapping and third-party screening, by verifying the identity, ownership structure, and jurisdiction of key suppliers and subcontractors.

Reputational Risk: Even if a company’s operations are not directly linked to a designated cartel, there’s a potential reputational risk for businesses perceived as operating in areas where these groups are present or influential. To mitigate this, businesses operating in the region will likely implement media monitoring, stakeholder engagement plans, and crisis response protocols in parallel with legal compliance measures. Businesses may also monitor publicly accessible information relating to high-risk customers to avoid exposure to potential reputational, operational, and legal risks.

American companies doing business in Guyana, as well as any international corporations falling under the jurisdiction of the Department of Justice and doing business in Guyana, should take steps to reduce their exposure and risk. For examples, businesses should strengthen their “Know Your Customer” and “Know Your Business” procedures to identify potential links to designated cartels or their affiliates. This includes collecting detailed information on counterparties’ ownership structures, beneficial owners, jurisdictions of incorporation, and business history. Robust screening, risk rating, and ongoing monitoring should be conducted for all clients, including correspondent banks and legal representatives. In addition, companies should conduct thorough due diligence on all suppliers and partners, especially those based in higher-risk regions. This may include requiring disclosures of subcontractors, conducting third-party risk assessments, engaging external risk-management consultants, and implementing annual re-certification processes to monitor changes in risk exposure.

Further, businesses should implement or strengthen their AML, counter-terrorism financing (CTF), and sanctions compliance programs. These programs should include updated internal controls and written policies, designated compliance personnel, mandated employee training on compliance red flags, established escalation procedures, and robust protocols for filing Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs).

Trade & Customs Sanctions

Guyana’s geographic location presents complexities for businesses operating in the region, especially after the designation of many regional drug cartels as FTOs and the expansion of sanctions on entities and individuals in neighboring countries like Venezuela. A growing number of goods, including gasoline, gold, and agricultural goods, is smuggled into Guyana each year, in attempts to evade tariffs and export controls. Guyana’s port cities, specifically, Georgetown and Berbice, have therefore inadvertently become transit points for illicit commerce. Venezuelan products are reexported out of Guyana’s port cities, often without clear country-of-origin documentation, in violation of U.S. and international trade laws.

This dynamic has exposed American businesses to significant risk. Smuggled Venezuelan gasoline, for example, is sold at steep markups in Guyana, incentivizing black market trade that can implicate legitimate businesses. U.S. investors operating in Guyana may face exposure to secondary sanctions or increased scrutiny if their supply chains are deemed noncompliant. Similarly, gold, often melted down and stripped of identifying markers, is exported from Venezuela to Guyana to avoid the sanctions placed on Venezuela, leading to additional black-market trade and tariff evasion schemes. Businesses must therefore be especially cautious when dealing in sectors like gasoline and gold, and can do so by exercising proper due diligence – particularly in verifying source countries, conducting end-user checks, and screening counterparties’ supply chains — to avoid inadvertent violations of U.S. sanctions or exposure to illicit financial flows.

Corporate Structuring and Governance

Guyana does not currently have a binding corporate governance code, and minority shareholder protections are relatively weak. Foreign investors must therefore structure joint ventures and other partnerships carefully, using shareholder agreements, board representation rights, and dispute resolution clauses to safeguard their interests.

Guyana’s recent Investment Act and updates to the country’s arbitration laws allow for international arbitration under the ICSID Convention and other recognized frameworks.  This legal flexibility gives U.S. investors additional tools to enforce contracts and resolve disputes, such as enforceable arbitration clauses and clear jurisdictional protections.

At the same time, engagement with local laws and expectations is essential. Compliance with the Local Content Act, ethical treatment of labor, and environmentally sustainable operations are increasingly viewed not just as legal requirements but as pillars of corporate reputation. Building goodwill with regulators and communities can also serve as a buffer against political risk.

Conclusion

Guyana represents a rare frontier investment opportunity, offering extraordinary growth potential in a rapidly modernizing economy. The government has taken notable steps to improve transparency, governance, and legal certainty, especially in the oil and gas sector. However, for American investors, success in Guyana requires a clear understanding of how U.S. legal frameworks intersect with local realities. From anti-corruption enforcement under the FCPA to complex international tax compliance and corporate structuring, the legal landscape is as dynamic as the economic one.

Investors who approach Guyana with robust compliance protocols, thoughtful legal structuring, and a commitment to transparency and responsible engagement will be best positioned to thrive. Guyana’s future is unfolding rapidly, and for those who are able to navigate it, it holds exceptional promise. Nevertheless, a mass influx of growth, money, and development into a historically impoverished nation is often difficult and riddled with challenges, for locals and foreigners alike.

Vanessa Singh Johannes is a partner with Foley in Miami. Hunter Parker White is an associate with Foley in Milwaukee.

This article is based on five overviews by Foley. Edited and republished with permission from Foley.

 

 

More Perspectives