We’ve financed 500,000 entrepreneurs with N10 billion business grant since inception’ — LSETF

   

…Lagos Employment Summit holds Wednesday*

   *…Agency set to launch Labour Market Information System*

No fewer than 500,000 private business enterprises operating in Lagos State have been successfully supported and stabilised through a tenure-bound credit programme and seed capital by the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF), it was revealed on Monday.

The State Government’s employment agency disclosed that it had disbursed over N10 billion in business grants to support new and existing enterprises, with 86 per cent of beneficiaries meeting their loan repayment obligations.

The details were made public by the LSETF Acting Executive Secretary, Mrs. Feyisayo Alayande, while briefing reporters at the Bagauda Kaltho Press Centre in Alausa on the activities lined up for the third Lagos Employment Summit being organised by the agency.

The one-day summit, with the theme: “Job Creation - Uniting for Impact: Create, Collaborate, Change”, will hold on Wednesday at the Eko Hotels and Suites, Victoria Island.

Alanyande said LSETF, since inception, had organised 220,000 business sustainability trainings for thousands of entrepreneurs, while supporting new business ventures to scale up and refocus their financial growth to create jobs and improve business opportunities.

She said: “Since inception of our operations, we have provided good support to businesses in terms of funding. We have done about N10 billion disbursement till date in terms of creating access to seed capital and business financing for enterprises across sectors. We have done about 220,000 entrepreneurial trainings for Lagosians, while supporting about 500,000 businesses.

“As at two months ago, we had over 83 per cent collection rate, which means that majority of our loan beneficiaries have paid back their facilities. As I speak, we have moved the collection rate up to 86 per cent. This means that we have been performing better.