Antigua Breaking News

Day: September 22, 2020

  • Residents will suffer through 5 days of ‘necessary’ power cuts across the island

    Residents will suffer through 5 days of ‘necessary’ power cuts across the island

    A number of communities across Antigua will be without electricity for several hours per day during this week. The cuts, which commenced Monday, will continue daily until Friday, according to the Antigua Public Utilities Authority (APUA). In what appears to be a contradiction, APUA says the outages are necessary in order “to provide consistent and…

  • PM to sue political rival Alister Thomas for defamation

    PM to sue political rival Alister Thomas for defamation

    Prime Minister Gaston Browne says he will sue United Progressive Party (UPP) candidate Alister Thomas for defamation. The Prime Minister revealed his plans to move forward with a lawsuit, after Thomas appeared on Observer Radio Tuesday morning. Thomas will be running against Browne in City West in the next election. “Alister Thomas, the self-proclaimed professor…

  • UPP ratifies all 16 Candidates using remote technology to stage General Council Meeting

    UPP ratifies all 16 Candidates using remote technology to stage General Council Meeting

    The United Progressive Party (UPP) General Council has ratified all 16 Candidates-Elect during a virtual meeting. The Council is the Party’s highest decision-making body outside of the Bi-annual Convention. The Party’s 16 Branches and members from overseas joined the Central Executive virtually, and used the Zoom platform to cast their votes. Each Branch nominated and…

  • Michael, Lewis settle civil dispute; MP apologises to magistrate

    Michael, Lewis settle civil dispute; MP apologises to magistrate

    The following statement was issued MP Asot Michael: Over the last few weeks there has been much publicity surrounding my civil dispute with Mr. Lewis. I have this day settled that dispute that was before the Magistrates Court. Indeed against legal advice and out of the goodness of my heart I settled significantly above that…

  • COVID: US death toll passes 200,000

    COVID: US death toll passes 200,000

    The US coronavirus death toll has passed 200,000, according to data from Johns Hopkins University (JHU). More than 6.8 million people are known to have been infected in the US, more than in any other country. The milestone comes amid an increase in cases in a number of states, including North Dakota and Utah. In…

  • LETTER: Support Local

    LETTER: Support Local

    Dear Editor, We live in interesting and strange, changing times. In all my 65 years of life in Antigua I have never seen one business appeal to the public not to support another business. Let the paint people fight it out and the public will benefit. I saw the flyer on another local news site…

  • BBC journalist asks Barbados PM if people should be ‘allowed’ to be gay

    BBC journalist asks Barbados PM if people should be ‘allowed’ to be gay

    A BBC journalist asked the prime minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley, if people should be “allowed” to be gay – and she did not hold back. Mottley appeared on BBC News to discuss revived plans for the Caribbean island to remove the queen as its head of state and become a republic. In the interview…

  • The UWI mourns the passing of Sir Selvyn Walter

    The UWI mourns the passing of Sir Selvyn Walter

    The passing of Sir Selvyn Walter represents a monumental loss of intellectual forte, cultural pride and patriotism for the nation of Antigua and Barbuda and The University of the West Indies (The UWI) community. Sir Selvyn attended The UWI Mona Campus in the 60s and played a leading role in what at the time was…

  • Meteorologists increase forecast for record-breaking 2020 hurricane season

    Meteorologists increase forecast for record-breaking 2020 hurricane season

    AccuWeather meteorologists upped the number of tropical storms anticipated in the record-breaking 2020 Atlantic hurricane season this week, as the last name on the list designated for the season, Wilfred, has been exhausted as of midday Friday. Forecasters, led by veteran hurricane expert Dan Kottlowski, now expect a total of 28 storms, which would tie…

  • Antigua and Barbuda in no rush to become a republic

    Antigua and Barbuda in no rush to become a republic

    Antigua and Barbuda is in no rush to become a republic which would mean the removal of Queen Elizabeth II as the country’s Head of State. This is the view of Information Minister, Melford Nicholas, who added that although Antigua and Barbuda will likely examine the possibility of becoming a republic in the future, now…

  • 1 active case of COVID-19, nearly 200 people quarantined at home

    1 active case of COVID-19, nearly 200 people quarantined at home

    The most recent report received by the Ministry of Health, Wellness and the Environment from the Mount St. John’s Medical Center has revealed no new laboratory confirmed COVID-19 cases in Antigua and Barbuda as of Sunday, Sept. 20 at 6 pm. Subsequent to the publication of the dashboard on Sunday, nine samples were processed at…

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]