Preparing Suriname for oil and gas revenues is a race against time
“We must teach people to fish, not to give them fish.” A well-known saying. Solving poverty requires a nuanced and profound understanding of society. Oil and gas revenues can alleviate material suffering and, through various subsidies, ensure better access to healthcare and education. But the question is: how do you organize that sustainably? And even more importantly: how do you anchor that in the country’s intrinsic earning capacity, taking into account a diversity of work attitudes and rhythms? Agriculture and tourism seem to me to be excellent sectors for further development. But culture, nature, and the knowledge industry could also be stimulated more strongly, according to sociologist Kirtie Algoe.
She is skeptical about oil and gas developments because, in her view, various signals point to the risk of the resource curse. “We can think, for example, of the warnings from the International Monetary Fund, the statements made by the current president regarding our readiness, rising land prices in certain areas, the status of the so-called savings fund, the labor shortage, and so on. What I find worst is that the middle and lower classes could ultimately bear the brunt of this. They are often the ones who ultimately pay for harsh decisions and non-transparent agreements made by a small elite. We are already struggling to acquire land, retain sufficient teachers and educational quality, and gain access to good healthcare. I won’t even mention the self-evident backbone of a society—culture, knowledge, and sports. In short: the country is imploding.”
According to Algoe, the foundation is currently too fragile to bear the weight of industry in the future. According to her, a smart budget, strong legislation, and various funds offer insufficient relief, because Suriname is grappling with three fundamental and historical challenges that are often ignored. “First, our socio-economic dependency structure continues to have an impact, even in 2026. Our sense of history is low, except when a financial interest is attached to it. Second, discontinuity is the rule rather than the exception here. Our political culture is characterized by selective enmities and camaraderie between people who simultaneously have to govern and shape a society. This is often called pragmatism, while my analysis is then dismissed as theoretical. Third, we have a very low implementation rate of plans. As a society, we are not infrequently accused of talking a lot but doing little. Look, for example, at the realization of only about 10 percent of the more than five hundred projects from the 2026 Financial Annual Plan. That is incredibly low. This figure illustrates a larger problem: low productivity, a culture of distrust, and continuous institutional erosion.”
Algoe believes that qualities such as perseverance, optimism, creativity, craftsmanship, and the protection of ideals seem increasingly difficult to implement within the current context. According to her, the preparation for oil and gas developments is a race against time between workhorses and show horses. In her view, the latter group seems larger than the former. “The groups that have to execute and drive things in practice often cut corners. I recently attended a consultation round for an international company regarding an upcoming project. It was downright shameful that government representatives left immediately after the first round of presentations, with a snack in hand. That may be a coincidence. But their almost massive passivity during the discussion round is not. It was clear that many did not have a sufficient grasp of the subject matter. The questions the head of the government delegation asked the international speakers and their local representatives were of a very basic nature. If a hearing proceeds like this, how can you be a critical community that has to help develop a new industry? The people who do understand the subject matter and are genuinely committed are running almost literally a race against time.”
Nevertheless, Algoe also sees positive developments. She points to the regular critical observations regarding the oil-driven plans. At various levels, emphasis is being placed on the importance of level-headedness and vigilance. For the time being, that seems like a good sign to me, certainly given the great uncertainty on the world stage. An atmosphere of the ‘law of the strongest’ is increasingly prevailing in international relations. Energy resources are a major power factor, something we can offer, while otherwise we have relatively few strategic assets. Who are our allies? How do we strengthen our negotiating position regarding our natural resources? From my ‘non-oil brain’, I try to keep the socio-societal perspective central.
Algoe is of the opinion that Suriname must address two matters in the short term. First: forging a workable policy formula with driven and disciplined leaders and implementers. Therefore, not a list of wishes or needs, but a well-thought-out policy based on greater coherence between policy areas, grounded in insight into local culture and knowledge of proven successes, and developed in collaboration with a small number of regional and international partners. Secondly: the implementation of a strategy in which our own capital, in the broadest sense of the word, is given priority. Culture is our backbone; we must develop it further. Biodiversity is a gift to us; we must utilize it, with knowledge and research as the driving force. A prerequisite for this is good governance, which prevents blatant theft or ‘legal’ disproportionate enrichment. All other resources, including gas and oil, are temporary in nature. They must not become the focus. The leverage function of revenues from this sector for other developing regions must therefore be closely monitored. Crisis teaches us to contemplate: to reflect and then recreate. A reset on sound foundations.