Antigua Breaking News

Category: World News

  • Powerful earthquake kills hundreds in Turkey and Syria

    Powerful earthquake kills hundreds in Turkey and Syria

    A powerful 7.8-magnitude earthquake rocked southeastern Turkey and northern Syria early Monday, toppling hundreds of buildings and killing more than 1,300 people. Hundreds were still believed to be trapped under rubble, and the toll was expected to rise as rescue workers searched mounds of wreckage in cities and towns across the area. On both sides…

  • I got herpes on my face at a concert — and ended up in a hospital

    I got herpes on my face at a concert — and ended up in a hospital

    For this fan, the memory of attending the Falls music festival in Australia will stick with her for life — unfortunately. Taneesha Crowe, 23, warned her followers on TikTok about the perils of concertgoing after she contracted herpes on her forehead at the Melbourne event, according to a report. “So five years ago I finished…

  • Couple facing up to 10 years in jail for dancing in the street of Iran

    Couple facing up to 10 years in jail for dancing in the street of Iran

     An Iranian couple in their 20s has been given jail sentences totalling 10 years after a video of them dancing in the street circulated on social media, according to reports. According to CNN News, Astiazh Haqiqi, 21, and her fiance Amir Mohammad Ahmadi, 22, are said to be convicted of “promoting corruption and prostitution, colluding…

  • Artificial blood may soon save lives

    Artificial blood may soon save lives

    This is bloody good news. Scientists are one step closer to making faux blood a reality with funding of more than $46 million. The potentially life-saving technology will be designed by researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, and in collaboration with the university’s School of Pharmacy, for the next four years. “We…

  • Church of England sheds light on ‘shameful’ slave trade ties

    Church of England sheds light on ‘shameful’ slave trade ties

    Three centuries ago, an enslaved person in Virginia wrote to a leader of the Church of England, begging to be released from “this cruel bondage.” There was no reply from the church, which at the time was accumulating a tidy profit from the trans-Atlantic slave trade. The handwritten letter from 1723 — whose author says…

  • Here’s How Much Money You Should Save by Age 30, According to Experts

    Here’s How Much Money You Should Save by Age 30, According to Experts

    Just incase you’re not already depressed enough about the state of your finances, check out this well meaning but quietly devastating advice from finance expert Kelly Smith. A writer for The Penny Hoarder, Smith told ATTN that by the time you’re 30 you should have six months worth of expenses saved up. “I think the…

  • Brazilian woman gives birth to 16-pound baby

    Brazilian woman gives birth to 16-pound baby

    A Brazilian woman has expressed shock after she gave birth to a 16-pound, two-foot-tall baby boy recently. Cleidiane Santos dos Santos said she “didn’t expect this surprise” when she gave birth to her sixth child, baby Angerson, via cesarean section on January 18 at Hospital Padre Colombo in Parintins, Brazil. “I thought he would be…

  • WHO: COVID still an emergency but nearing ‘inflexion’ point

    WHO: COVID still an emergency but nearing ‘inflexion’ point

    The coronavirus remains a global health emergency, the World Health Organization (WHO) chief said Monday, after a key advisory panel found the pandemic may be nearing an “inflexion point” where higher levels of immunity can lower virus-related deaths. Speaking at the opening of WHO’s annual executive board meeting, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said “there…

  • Video shows police beating and kicking Tyre Nichols while he was restrained

    Video shows police beating and kicking Tyre Nichols while he was restrained

    Footage of a traffic stop that has seen five ex-Memphis police officers charged with murder shows them kicking and punching a motorist for several minutes as he cries out for his mother. Officers are seen beating Tyre Nichols, 29, in the videos from the January 7 arrest, with no signs of him resisting. US President…

  • Being homosexual is not a crime – Pope Francis

    Being homosexual is not a crime – Pope Francis

    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) “Being homosexual is not a crime. We are all…

  • Our Planet Versus Plastic Bags—A Tale of Two Cities

    Our Planet Versus Plastic Bags—A Tale of Two Cities

    By Erika Schelby With oceans, countries, populations, and governments inundated by a plague of plastic worldwide, it may be useful to focus on the single-use plastic bag choices made by two cities, in the same U.S. state, located at a distance of only 64 miles (104 km) from each other. Both Santa Fe and Albuquerque share many qualities and…

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]