(Kaieteur News) – As Guyana undergoes an unprecedented macro-economic transformation fueled by immense offshore oil wealth, a surge in infrastructure development has exposed a critical vulnerability in the nation’s supply chain. To build its planned transnational highways, sea defenses, and energy facilities, the country requires millions of tons of crushed stone. To get the stone, quarries need commercial explosives.

But access to those explosives flows almost entirely through a single commercial channel, raising profound questions about market competition, legal architecture, and economic efficiency in the world’s fastest-growing economy.

In a three-part series, this investigation examines the structural dynamics of Guyana’s commercial explosives market, the legal maneuvers used to maintain its current architecture, and the broader macroeconomic implications as the state launches a new national mining consortium.