Antigua Breaking News

Category: Regional News

  • Regional air transport gets financial boost

    Regional air transport gets financial boost

    The Caribbean Development Bank’s (CDB) board of directors recently approved a technical assistance grant to address a growing air transportation crisis affecting the Eastern Caribbean following the collapse of regional airline LIAT. The funds, which are to finance consultancy services, the CDB said, will be used to plan urgent provisional measures to re-establish regular air…

  • Travel within the Caribbean in crisis

    Travel within the Caribbean in crisis

    By Sir Ronald Sanders (The writer is Antigua and Barbuda’s Ambassador to the United States of America and the Organization of American States.   He is also a Senior Fellow at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, University of London and Massey College in the University of Toronto) The closure of LIAT in 2020, without establishing…

  • CFPA, Caribbean observatory on SRHR applaud decision to repeal discriminatory laws in Barbados

    CFPA, Caribbean observatory on SRHR applaud decision to repeal discriminatory laws in Barbados

    The Caribbean Observatory Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) of the Caribbean Family Planning Affiliation (CFPA) applauds the repeal of the buggery and gross indecency laws by the Republic of Barbados, confirming its commitment to upholding human rights for all.  The oral decision was given by the high court and the written particulars are…

  • Antigua and Barbuda among 5 Caribbean countries attending regional conference in Columbia

    Antigua and Barbuda among 5 Caribbean countries attending regional conference in Columbia

    Antigua and Barbuda is amongst 5 Caribbean countries attending the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) Dockers Regional Conference in Cartagena, Columbia. The Antigua and Barbuda Workers’ Union is being represented by Deputy General Secretary, Chester Hughes and Shop steward Gregg Scotland. The conference, which runs for 3 days, is reviewing the work of the ITF…

  • FTX crypto boss Sam Bankman-Fried denied bail in The Bahamas

    FTX crypto boss Sam Bankman-Fried denied bail in The Bahamas

    Sam Bankman-Fried, founder of the failed cryptocurrency exchange FTX, has been denied bail by a judge in The Bahamas. US authorities charged Mr Bankman-Fried with “one of the biggest financial frauds in US history” on Tuesday. The ex-FTX boss built a “house of cards on a foundation of deception”, Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair…

  • Antigua’s DPP refused stay of proceedings in his fraud case

    Antigua’s DPP refused stay of proceedings in his fraud case

    Antigua’s Director of Public Prosecutions, Anthony Armstrong, who is facing fraud charges in relation to three land transactions, is to know on Thursday whether his passport will be returned to him. The Jamaican attorney-at-law was arrested on Saturday on his arrival at the Norman Manley International Airport and later charged with conspiracy and fraudulent conversion.…

  • Appeal Court maintains jail term for Guyanese man who raped five-year-old twice

    Appeal Court maintains jail term for Guyanese man who raped five-year-old twice

    The Court of Appeal in Guyana has dismissed an appeal by a man who was given a 28-year jail term for raping a five-year-old child twice in 2013. Colvin Norton had been sentenced to imprisonment in 2018, after the jury found him guilty of raping the child between August 1 and August 6, 2013, in…

  • BREAKING: FTX cryptocurrency exchange founder Sam Bankman-Fried arrested in Bahamas

    BREAKING: FTX cryptocurrency exchange founder Sam Bankman-Fried arrested in Bahamas

    Police in the Bahamas have arrested former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, the country’s attorney general said on Monday, adding that the Bahamas has received formal notification from the United States of criminal charges against him. A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s office in Manhattan confirmed the cryptocurrency exchange founder had been arrested in the Bahamas but…

  • Over 1,400 killed, hundreds kidnapped in Haiti this year – UN

    Over 1,400 killed, hundreds kidnapped in Haiti this year – UN

    The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk says more than 1,400 people have been killed and over 1,000 kidnapped in Haiti so far this year by gangs who also use sexual violence. Speaking on the Friday in Switzerland, the eve of World Human Rights Day, Turk called for  a show of “political…

  • Protecting school children and ending gang violence: no time to waste

    Protecting school children and ending gang violence: no time to waste

    By Sir Ronald Sanders (The writer is Antigua and Barbuda’s Ambassador to the United States of America and the Organization of American States.   He is also a Senior Fellow at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, University of London and Massey College in the University of Toronto) Gang violence, particularly in schools, and directed at…

  • CXC announces dates for 2023 Regional Examinations

    CXC announces dates for 2023 Regional Examinations

    The Barbados-based Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) has announced the dates for its 2023 regional examinations beginning in January. In a statement, the institution that provides regional and internationally recognised secondary school leaving examinations, said the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) will be held between January 4 to 31, followed by the Caribbean Primary Exit Assessment…

REQUEST FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST

(CONSULTING SERVICES – INDIVIDUAL SELECTION)

 

OECS MSME Guarantee Facility Project

Loan No.: IDA-62670, IDA-62660, IDA-62640, IBRD-88830, IDA-62650

Assignment Title: Senior Operating Officer (SOO)

Reference No. KN-ECPCGC-207852-CS-INDV

 

The Governments of Antigua and Barbuda, Commonwealth of Dominica, Grenada, St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines have received financing in the amount of US$10 million equivalent from the World Bank towards the cost of establishing a partial credit guarantee scheme, and they intend to apply part of the proceeds to payments for goods, and consulting services to be procured under this project. 

The consultant will serve as the “Senior Operating Officer (SOO)” for the ECPCGC and should possess extensive knowledge of MSME lending with some direct experience lending to Micro, small and medium-sized businesses, knowledge of the internal control processes necessary for a lending operation and the ability to design and implement risk mitigation procedures. The ideal candidate should possess an Undergraduate Degree from a reputable college or university, preferably in Business, Accounting, Banking or related field, with a minimum of 5 years’ experience in lending, inclusive of MSME lending. The initial employment period will be for two years on a contractual basis. Renewal of the contract will be subject to a performance evaluation at the end of the contractual period. The assignment is expected to begin on September 30th, 2021.  The consultant will report directly to the Chief Executive Officer of the ECPCGC.

The detailed Terms of Reference (TOR) for the assignment can be viewed by following the attached link below. 

 

https://bit.ly/3iVannm

 

The Eastern Caribbean Partial Credit Guarantee Corporation (ECPCGC) now invites eligible “Consultants” to indicate their interest in providing the Services. Interested Consultants should provide information demonstrating that they have:

  • An Undergraduate Degree from a reputable college or university, preferably in Business, Finance, Banking or related field; and
  • Minimum of 5 years’ experience in MSME lending. Applicants should also have:
  • The ability to design and implement risk management procedures 
  • Extensive knowledge of MSME lending with some direct experience lending to small and medium-sized businesses
  • Extensive knowledge of MSME banking operations
  • Knowledge of the internal controls necessary for a lending operation and the ability to design and implement risk management procedures
  • Experience developing and presenting information in public, including responding to questions in real-time
  • Experience lending to MSMEs located in the ECCU
  • Knowledge of marketing and communicating with the MSME sector
  • Ability to draft procedures to be used in a lending operation
  • Familiarity with the mechanics of a loan guarantee program
  • Exceptional written, oral, interpersonal, and presentation skills, and
  • Proficiency in the use of Microsoft Office suite.

The attention of interested Individual Consultants is drawn to Section III, Paragraphs 3.14, 3.16, and 3.17 of the World Bank’s Procurement Regulations for IPF Borrowers July 2016, [revised November 2017] (“Procurement Regulations”), setting forth the World Bank’s policy on conflict of interest. A Consultant will be selected in accordance with the Approved Selection Method for Individual Consultants set out in the clause 7.34 of the World Bank Procurement Regulations for IPF Borrowers. 

 

Further information can be obtained at the address below during office hours 0800 to 1700 hours:

Eastern Caribbean Partial Credit Guarantee Corporation

Brid Rock, Basseterre,

St. Kitts.

Expressions of interest must be delivered in a written form by e-mail by August 11th, 2021, to [email protected]. 

 

For further information, please contact:

Carmen Gomez-Trigg                                                            Bernard Thomas

Chief Executive Officer                                                          Chief Financial Officer

Tel: 868-620-8144                                                                  Tel: 869-765-2385

Email: [email protected]                                          [email protected]