Guyana’s Natural Resource Fund received US$2.47 billion in oil revenues in 2025, with US$2.8 billion projected for 2026 and production climbing toward 1.15 million barrels per day. Cost recovery under the Stabroek Block production sharing agreement is accelerating, which will materially increase Guyana’s revenue share later in the decade.

The outline established by the Natural Resource Fund Act provides the institutional foundation. The analytical question now turns to mandate design: what the fund is asked to do with the capital it receives, and how that design compares with the sovereign wealth frameworks of states that have managed similar transitions.

Two cases are instructive. Singapore’s Temasek Holdings and the United Arab Emirates’ Mubadala Investment Company offer different but complementary models, each developed in response to a challenge resembling Guyana’s circumstances.

The Temasek Model: Domestic Capacity Through Commercial Discipline

Temasek was established in 1974 to hold and manage the Singaporean government’s commercial assets. Its early portfolio concentrated on domestic firms in telecommunications, aviation, shipping, and infrastructure. The strategic logic was straightforward: Singapore lacked indigenous industrial capacity and could not develop it through ministry-managed enterprises subject to political cycles. Temasek functioned as a commercial holding company, deploying state capital into national champions while operating at........

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