Lagos State government has disbursed about N25 billion in grants and loans to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) through the Employment Trust Fund (LSETF), to enhance productivity and economic growth in the state.
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu disclosed this on Thursday at the 2024 Business Day Newspaper CEO Forum, with the theme: “Governors in Conversation – Innovative Governance: Steering States through Economic Turbulence”, held in Lagos.
Represented by his Deputy, Dr Obafemi Hamzat, Sanwo-Olu said the grants and loans have empowered entrepreneurs to flourish in doing their businesses and stimulating the economy.
“The Lagos State Employment Trust Fund over the past six years has given out close to 25 billion naira in terms of grants and assisting people with loans. In this case, single-digit loans were offered to them to sustain and train them on how to manage their businesses,” he said.
Sanwo-Olu added that the state government also helped them to source products, have access to the market, and help them interact with NAFDAC, BOI, CAC, and Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) among other agencies in order to understand how to run their businesses within the framework of the laws.
“It is for us to create those types of environments that allow private people to run their businesses and create jobs for the future”, the Governor stated.
He added that such initiatives are what the state government usually embarked upon to ensure that businesses within the state increase, noting that his administration aimed to enhance the Nano SMEs and provide access to grants and loans for their businesses to continue to thrive and succeed.
Sanwo-Olu stated further that his administration is committed to the ease of doing business, enhancing businesses, and helping the citizens to grow.
He highlighted some of his administration’s initiatives to create an enabling environment for business development including Knowledge, Innovation, Technology and Employment (KITE), LASRIC, for Fintech and other technology-driven businesses as well as Lagos Financial Centre which creates a zone for financial services, among other initiatives.
Alleluia is the Assistant Editor and Content Writer at LagosPost.ng. She is a prolific writer and editor, she has written features and news stories on Lifestyle, Sports, Business, Politics and B2B marketing. She is also an event coordinator, host and social media content creator.
