Antigua Breaking News

Category: World News

  • Rich Russians offered a Caribbean shortcut to US visas by paying their way to a Grenadian passport

    Rich Russians offered a Caribbean shortcut to US visas by paying their way to a Grenadian passport

    Insider investigated how rich Russians could move to the US by investing in Grenada’s economy. A visa firm is offering the shortcut after Vladimir Putin announced a partial military mobilization. It’s legal, but an illicit-finance expert said it could let oligarchs “skirt the rules.” Five days after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a partial military…

  • Boris Johnson says he will not run to lead U.K. Conservatives, quashing comeback rumours

    Boris Johnson says he will not run to lead U.K. Conservatives, quashing comeback rumours

    Former British prime minister Boris Johnson announced Sunday he will not run to lead the Conservative Party, ending a short-lived attempt to return to the prime minister’s job he was ousted from little more than three months ago. His withdrawal leaves former Treasury chief Rishi Sunak the strong favourite to be Britain’s next prime minister.…

  • Boris Johnson arrives back in Britain to attempt rapid political comeback

    Boris Johnson arrives back in Britain to attempt rapid political comeback

    Boris Johnson arrived back in Britain on Saturday as he considers an audacious attempt to win a second term as prime minister only weeks after he was forced to step down, with some colleagues warning his comeback could create more political chaos. The potential candidates to replace Prime Minister Liz Truss, who dramatically quit on…

  • BREAKING: Liz Truss resigns are UK Prime Minister

    BREAKING: Liz Truss resigns are UK Prime Minister

    British Prime Minister Liz Truss announced on Thursday she was stepping down, just over six weeks after taking the Conservative Party reins as leader. Truss’s short tenure was marked by shock over the government’s mini-budget, which roiled British markets, and internal party dissension leading to cabinet departures and backbenchers expressing a lack of confidence in…

  • Cow snot could protect from STIs including HIV and herpes

    Cow snot could protect from STIs including HIV and herpes

    Daily Mail: A lubricant made with cow mucus could protect against HIV and herpes, scientists say. Lab experiments proved the gel, which would be applied in the same way as shop-bought ones currently, could beat the sexually transmitted infections. Human cells first treated with the lubricant were 70 to 80 per cent less likely to…

  • Mason Greenwood charged with attempted rape and assault

    Mason Greenwood charged with attempted rape and assault

    BBC: Manchester United footballer Mason Greenwood has been charged with attempted rape, engaging in controlling behaviour and assault. The forward was arrested in January following allegations that emerged in images and videos posted online. He was arrested again on Saturday for allegedly breaching his bail. Prosecutors said the charges all related to the same female…

  • Royal family slammed for ‘eye-watering’ ticket prices to visit queen’s grave

    Royal family slammed for ‘eye-watering’ ticket prices to visit queen’s grave

    The royal family is under fire amid news that it will cost mourners almost $30 per person to visit Queen Elizabeth II’s grave. Her Majesty was laid to rest last week at the King George VI Memorial Chapel, located on the grounds of Windsor Castle about an hour’s drive from London. The castle is usually…

  • Join the international fight for climate justice

    Join the international fight for climate justice

    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) On September 23, at the 77th Session of…

  • Queen Elizabeth died of ‘old age,’ death certificate says

    Queen Elizabeth died of ‘old age,’ death certificate says

    Queen Elizabeth II died of “old age” at 3:10 pm (1410 GMT) on September 8, according to her death certificate newly released on Thursday by the National Records of Scotland. The 96-year-old monarch died at her Balmoral estate in Scotland around three-and-a-half hours before the news was announced to the world. The queen was laid…

  • Sunwing union opposes Canadian carrier’s plans to hire foreign pilots

    Sunwing union opposes Canadian carrier’s plans to hire foreign pilots

    (Reuters) – The union for Sunwing Airlines pilots said it is urging Canada’s government to stop a plan by the Ontario-based leisure carrier to hire foreign pilots this winter to help cope with an expected holiday travel surge. Airline industry use of foreign pilots as aviation rebounds from the COVID-19 pandemic is sensitive for unions…

  • Why is a NASA spacecraft crashing into an asteroid?

    Why is a NASA spacecraft crashing into an asteroid?

    CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — In the first-of-its kind, save-the-world experiment, NASA is about to clobber a small, harmless asteroid millions of miles away. A spacecraft named Dart will zero in on the asteroid Monday, intent on slamming it head-on at 14,000 mph (22,500 kph). The impact should be just enough to nudge the asteroid…

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]