Small and medium enterprises to get help with agri project proposals
Published June 10, 2008 in Stabroek

DFLSA Incorporated yesterday held a one-day investment conference focused on entrepreneurship and the business environment and a call was made for more proposals in agriculture from small and medium enterprises (SME).

The conference, which took place at Le Meridien Pegasus, looked at economic issues shaping the business environment in Guyana, private sector development in the Caribbean, SME internet-based lending and leasing, plans for supporting small enterprises and SME in the south eastern Caribbean.

Prakash Dhanrajh of DLFSA said: “We have been in the market for over two years and we wanted to pull together the small and medium enterprises. We wanted to update them on our services and plans for Guyana and also to get feedback from them on some of the challenges they faced in terms of getting their businesses going and expanding.”

He said that an SME advisor will spend nine months in Guyana speaking and working with the SME in the Guyanese private sector. The person will be helping the SMEs to put together top quality project proposals so that they could then approach either the banking system or the DFLSA for financing. “We believe that there is a lot of entrepreneurship in Guyana but not a lot of them have approached us for financing and for those who approach their business plan,” he said.

He said that the client base is not as high as he would like it to be, but on an annual basis he would be happy to have 10 to 15 clients. He said that based on projections, “we are below that and we want to accelerate the pace.”

He added that now is a good time for proposals to be made. He said that the agency is also putting focus on agro-processing and noted their and clients’ participation in the recently-concluded Regional Agriculture Investment Forum.

Among the attendees at yesterday’s conference were representatives of SME organizations, donor agencies, non-governmental organizations and DFLSA

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Local micro finance enterprise keen to work with progressive Guyanese businessmen
Published January 30, 2009 in Stabroek Business

- eligible businesses could access upwards of $150M
A local subsidiary of a Trinidad and Tobago-based finance company has expressed a willingness to offer its services to self-actualizing Guyanese enterprises that are interested in building strong and resilient business enterprises.

General Manager of DFLSA, Lindel Harlequin told Stabroek Business during an interview earlier this week that the local business community included “sound businessmen who understand their business” and that DFLSA was prepared to work with them to further develop their enterprises. “These are people who understand their businesses in both theory and practice.

They have very sound businesses and are not constrained by their own limitations. They are willing to absorb new ideas in order to take their businesses to higher and higher levels. These are some of the persons who we are hoping will come to the DFLSA.”

DFLSA, a subsidiary of the Trinidad and Tobago-based DFL Caribbean, offers enterprises a range of financing facilities from GY$50,000 to an excess of $150 million and technical assistance support for existing businesses.

“We feel that while we may not be able to transform the entire business culture at the same time we can make a difference if we are able to work with the self-actualizers in the business community. We believe that those who can realize success by applying the correct principles can pull the others along.”


DFLSA officers interviewing a client

DFLSA, which was set up here in 2005 also operates a subsidiary company, the Caribbean Development Network Management Services Inc. The company commenced disbursing loans in May 2006.

And according to Harlequin while the need for micro-financing was nothing new the market has not always been taken advantage of. He said that the viability of micro-financing institutions was tied to the fact that the practice has been for small borrowers to repay their loans. “In many cases that has been the basis for the success of the micro-financing institutions,” Harlequin said.

And according to Harlequin while some micro-financed businesses tended to grow only to a certain level this was not necessarily an indication of success or failure. “It is just possible that there are instances in which those persons may be doing the correct thing since if you take your business beyond your capability you are likely to fail.”
In its initial stages the DFLSA targeted the Georgetown market and according to Harlequin while a substantial part of the company’s portfolio continued to be located in Georgetown, there had been a growth in its clientele along the East Coast corridor and in Berbice. He said that the company’s clients include salons, barber shops, and businesses engaged in vehicle care and maintenance.

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