Antigua Breaking News

Category: Regional News

  • Kia Purotu Koe

    Kia Purotu Koe

    By Cdr. Bud Slabbaert No, it is not gobbledygook. And it has nothing to do with the car brand Kia. “Kia Purotu Koe” is how people say “Hello“ on the Island of Mangareva in Southern Polynesia. It means “May you remain beautiful”. Oh, I tell you, it makes you feel so good. Give it to…

  • Forecasters predict possible flooding in the Caribbean this Christmas

    Forecasters predict possible flooding in the Caribbean this Christmas

    The Barbados-based Caribbean Institute for Meteorology & Hydrology (CIMH) is warning the region that recent heavy rains could continue into December and pose a risk for flooding during one of the most joyous seasons of the year. “This year, flooding is a bigger risk in December than in other years,” CIMH climatologist Cédric Van Meerbeeck…

  • Jamaican youth on a mission to fight HIV/AIDS

    Jamaican youth on a mission to fight HIV/AIDS

    Back on local soil after completing a Master of Science degree in Public Health and Health Promotion at England’s Brunel University London, Chad Morgan is looking to utilise his wealth of knowledge to play an active role in Jamaica’s fight against HIV/AIDS. Morgan, one of last year’s Chevening scholars, told the Jamaica Observer that he believes the…

  • Payment of the ‘double salary’ will help to stimulate economy, St. Kitts and Nevis PM says

    Payment of the ‘double salary’ will help to stimulate economy, St. Kitts and Nevis PM says

    Civil Servants, Government Auxiliary Employees (GAEs), Pensioners and STEP workers across St. Kitts and Nevis have benefited from an extra month’s salary, which was paid on Tuesday — a gesture Prime Minister Dr. Terrance Drew said was made to show appreciation to public servants for their hard work. Prime Minister Dr. Drew, while speaking on…

  • Former BVI Premier pens farewell eight months after arrest on drug charges

    Former BVI Premier pens farewell eight months after arrest on drug charges

    Eight months after he was arrested in the United States, former British Virgin Islands Premier Andrew Fahie has written a farewell letter to his former colleagues of the House of Assembly, urging them to keep fighting for the prosperity of the territory and focus on the areas that unite them as Virgin Islanders. In the…

  • Breakthrough in Venezuela talks spurs US to ease embargo

    Breakthrough in Venezuela talks spurs US to ease embargo

    The government of Nicolas Maduro and the Venezuelan opposition broke a political stalemate Saturday with a broad social accord, and the US government responded by allowing a major US oil company to resume operations in Venezuela. The accord heralded a potential easing of a grinding economic and political crisis in Venezuela. It paves the way…

  • WIPA expresses condolences at passing of David Murray

    WIPA expresses condolences at passing of David Murray

    The West Indies Players’ Association (WIPA) expresses condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of former West Indies player, David Murray. David Anthony Murray, born May 1950 in Barbados, was a wicketkeeper/batsman who played 19 Tests and 10 ODIs for the West Indies between 1973 and 1982. He is son of West Indies batsman Sir…

  • At least 4,473 women were victims of Femicide in the region in 2021

    At least 4,473 women were victims of Femicide in the region in 2021

    In 2021, at least 4,473 women were victims of femicide (also known as feminicide) in 29 countries and territories of the region, according to the latest official data that countries reported to the Gender Equality Observatory for Latin America and the Caribbean (GEO) of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC). This represents at…

  • Antigua and Barbuda Association for Persons Living with Disabilities benefits from UN FAO project

    Antigua and Barbuda Association for Persons Living with Disabilities benefits from UN FAO project

    The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in partnership with the local Ministries of Agriculture, recently rolled out the second phase of the Innovative Protected Cultivation Systems Project in Barbados, St. Kitts and Nevis, Antigua and Barbuda and Grenada from Oct. 31 to Nov. 5, led by FAO’s Vegetable Production Specialist, Jervis…

  • Union urges Barbados Gov’t to pay severance to ex-LIAT workers

    Union urges Barbados Gov’t to pay severance to ex-LIAT workers

    This country’s largest public sector trade union is calling on the Government to follow St Lucia’s lead by settling the outstanding severance payments of its nationals who were terminated by LIAT more than two years ago. On Tuesday, St Lucia’s Prime Minister Philip Pierre told Parliament that Cabinet had approved some EC$4.4 million (US$1.6 million)…

  • Former LIAT 1974 Ltd, Majestic Industries employees to get outstanding termination benefits 

    Former LIAT 1974 Ltd, Majestic Industries employees to get outstanding termination benefits 

    The Prime Minister of St Lucia, Philip J. Pierre, has confirmed that over 300 former employees of Majestic Industries and LIAT 1974 Ltd. will soon receive their outstanding termination benefits. An official statement issued by the St Lucia Government reports that the compensation package is greater than $6.3 million Eastern Caribbean Dollars (XCD), the equivalent…

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]