The Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF) said it has disbursed about N1.01 billion to 1,880 businesses under its Micro and Small/Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) loan programme.
The LSETF stated this during the public presentation of the Lagos MSME recovery fund report to its state governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu , which was held virtually in Lagos on Wednesday.
Speaking during the launch of the report, the Chairman, Board of Trustees, LSETF, Bola Adesola, said Lagos State was swept by a wave of violence and unrest after the EndSARS protests, which affected various MSMEs, adding that the wanton acts of vandalism threatened the livelihoods of over 4,000 business owners across the state, whose goods and infrastructure were affected.
Adesola stated that the LSETF, in a response to the development, swiftly set up the Lagos MSME Recovery Fund in collaboration with private sector partners to support businesses affected by the vandalism to ensure that they could return to normal operations, and most importantly, to stem the potential job losses that would follow as a result of the disruption to business activities.
She noted that 10 weeks after, an eight-man committee was formed in which 20 steering committees and sub-committees were held, 2000 businesses were approved to be supported with a total grant of N1.112 billion with individual grant sums ranging from N50,000 to N5 million.
