Antigua Breaking News

Category: Commentary

  • DEY ‘FRAID ASOT?

    DEY ‘FRAID ASOT?

    by G.A.Dwyer Astaphan On the afternoon of May 18, 2023, Member of Parliament for the St. Peter Constituency in Antigua, Mr. Asot Michal was suspended from the Parliament for the next three sittings. Mr. Michael was, at the time, on his feet, delivering what I thought to be a very incisive, well reasoned and significant…

  • OBSERVATION: Antigua, Migrant Island!

    OBSERVATION: Antigua, Migrant Island!

    Migrants have been coming to Antigua from post slavery days when the first migrants from Lebanon via New York were dropped off at St. John’s Harbour on a boat heading to Brazil. This piece of history is known by the Lebanese who have generational history to share with their great grandchildren. Tourism brought its own…

  • OPINION: Speaker Watt is a growing threat to Parliamentary Democracy

    OPINION: Speaker Watt is a growing threat to Parliamentary Democracy

    By Jonathan Walter The rampaging bias of Speaker of the Antigua and Barbuda Parliament Gerald Watt against Asot Michael in particular and members of the Opposition in general, is an existential threat to parliamentary democracy that requires urgent national attention. His conduct in presiding over proceedings of the House makes it increasingly clear that he…

  • 1.5°C is upon us. Are we prepared?

    1.5°C is upon us. Are we prepared?

    By Sir Ronald Sanders The report on May 17, from the World Meteorological Organization, (WMO) that global temperatures are likely to surge to record levels in the next five years should have sent all Caribbean institutions, such as the CARICOM Secretariat, the Caribbean Development Bank, and the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre, into overdrive to…

  • LETTER: Emancipation/Freedom Day

    LETTER: Emancipation/Freedom Day

    DEAR EDITOR: In the Caribbean, ‘Emancipation Day’ is celebrated enthusiastically as the day on which legal slavery ended and this is as it should be. It isn’t the same day for all the territories as the different slave owning nations issued or enacted Emancipation Proclamations on different dates and for the Dutch, French and Spanish…

  • Decimation of vulnerable nations inevitable if global warming continues on present trend

    Decimation of vulnerable nations inevitable if global warming continues on present trend

    By Sir Ronald Sanders John Kerry, former U.S. Secretary of State and current U.S. Special Envoy on Climate Change matters, told the world’s Ambassadors at a meeting in Washington, on May 10, that “there is no way” of keeping the rise in global temperatures to 1.5 degrees Celsius unless CO2 emissions are drastically reduced. Over the…

  • MAKEDA MIKAEL: Black bodies washed up on beaches

    MAKEDA MIKAEL: Black bodies washed up on beaches

    Once more black bodies of drowned migrants are floating up on beaches, and in Caribbean seas, even as in the Triangular Trade, where millions of black bodies four hundred years ago, drowned or were dumped in the Atlantic Ocean. Mother Africa is bleeding as her black skinned children continue to suffer the same exploitation of…

  • Objective journalism threatened by fake content and false media platforms

    Objective journalism threatened by fake content and false media platforms

    By Sir Ronald Sanders Media freedom in the Americas, from Canada in the North to Argentina in the South, with the Caribbean in between, did not rank very well in the 2023 World Press Freedom (WPF) Index. In a measurement of 180 countries and territories, only Canada – rated at 15 – secured a place among…

  • MAKEDA MIKAEL: Cannabis Is Driving Our Children Wild

    MAKEDA MIKAEL: Cannabis Is Driving Our Children Wild

    The Minister of Health needs to call an urgent meeting of Teachers and Parents of our cannabis smoking youth in an effort to remedy an out-of-control situation where our young people are killing their future with ‘weed!’ The weed brain destruction is now compounded by unscrupulous persons who are blending other hard drugs and synthetic…

  • Sugar beverages likely to increase risk of death and heart disease

    Sugar beverages likely to increase risk of death and heart disease

    By: Dr. Oswald Thomas A few years ago, the Hon: Minister of Health in Antigua and Barbuda announced the government’s intentions to ban sugary drinks in country. This was met with fierce debates and ferocious criticisms on both sides of the coin. The main concern of this public engagement was around whether the ban would…

  • What future, Venezuela?

    What future, Venezuela?

    By Sir Ronald Sanders The President of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, hosted a Conference on Venezuela in his nation’s capital, Bogota, on April 25. The European Union (EU) and 19 countries from the Americas, including the Caribbean, attended, but it is doubtful that they all had the same goals in mind. For several years, under Colombia’s…

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]