Ademola Aderemi
It is an initiative designed to create employment opportunities for unemployed persons in Lagos State. And in the past three years not a few would concur that the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF) has provided many hitherto jobless persons with opportunities of a lifetime.
Now, LSETF’s recent signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the United States African Development Fund (USADF), which aims to financially empower thousands of youths in Lagos within the next five years, is generating excitement among many.
While campaigning to be Lagos State governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode had pledged to create an initiative that would provide loans and jobs for residents, especially youths and women. On March 1, 2016, the LSETF was created, following the passage of an Executive Bill by the state House of Assembly.
Since then, it was gathered, over N6.5 billion has been disbursed to about 10,000 beneficiaries, while no fewer than 3,500 unemployed Lagos residents have been provided with vocational training. More than 1,500 of the trainees have been provided with jobs, while over 80 start-ups have been supported. Overall, no fewer than 90,000 jobs have been created in Lagos since the LSETF commenced operations.
It was also gathered that more benefits await Lagos residents in the next five years, as the partnership between the LSETF and USADF takes effect.
The collaboration, which is worth about $10 million, is designed to empower at least 15,000 residents of the state in five years.
Each of the parties would be required to provide $2 million every year for five years, totalling $10 million. The amount would be expended on providing skills development and internship opportunities to 3,000 youths between the ages of 18 and 35 each year for five years. At least, half of the beneficiaries would be women, it was gathered.
At the signing ceremony in Washington DC, Mrs. Ifueko Okauru, chairman of the LSETF board of trustees, noted that the “USADF-LSETF collaboration will enable the expansion of world-class vocational training centres available in the state, the development of 15,000 skilled youth for employment into targeted sectors, the provision of internship cost subsidies to employers and the tracking of real-time placement of unemployed youth into jobs.”
Mrs. Teju Abisoye, acting executive secretary, LSETF, recalled that the recent Labour Force Report by the National Bureau of Statistics showed a 6.7 per cent drop in unemployment rate, adding that Lagos State provided the largest number of 740,146 jobs in the third quarter of 2018. She said the deliberate employment intervention policies of the Lagos State government were now impacting on job creation. She equally expressed delight that USADF was collaborating with LSETF to create more jobs for youths while reducing the alarming unemployment rate.
Mr. C.D. Glin, president/CEO, USADF, explained that his foundation decided to partner with LSETF following independent verification that LSETF’s programmes were making a great impact in the lives of young Nigerians.
“This USADF-LSETF partnership further expands our existing commitment to investing in high-impact initiatives that are hinged on generating income, providing financial solutions and causing a change in the African economy,” Glin said.
Following its establishment by Ambode’s administration to tackle unemployment and promote job creation in Lagos, the LSETF decided to tackle the menace using three core programmes, loans, employability and Lagos Innovates. Besides, there was a commitment that 50 per cent of the beneficiaries would be women.
The loan programme provides access to finance with a maximum value of N5 million, N500,000 and N250,000, respectively, for small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs), micro-enterprises (ME) and ME start-ups (MES) beneficiaries.
The employability programme, in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), through the Lagos State Employability Support Project, seeks to increase the pool of skilled manpower to alleviate the acute shortage of employable labour in some key sectors, including manufacturing, health care, construction, entertainment and hospitality.
The third programme, Lagos Innovates, is a dedicated platform that refers to a set of programmes that provide support for the fast-growing start-up ecosystem in the state. Lagos Innovates is also designed to assist founders and start-ups by facilitating access to high quality workspaces and infrastructure, learning, early stage investment capital as well as investor and peer networks.
At the LTV Blue Roof, Agidingbi, Ikeja, during one of the events where cheques were presented to beneficiaries of the LSETF loan programme, Ambode said the initiative was meeting the objectives of creating jobs and contributing to the growth of the economy.
The governor said he was fulfilled that the initiative was helping to scale up entrepreneurship with many businesses now thriving.
Said Ambode: “Today is a historic day. It is one of those days that we have this fulfilment that we tried our hands on something that was never done before and years after, we are able to see the result. We should congratulate ourselves that a day like this can come in Lagos State.
“I am particularly delighted to be here today to see for myself the manifestation of a small dream we had at the inception of this government and the little seed we have sown in the lives and businesses of Lagosians. The Employment Trust Fund was a promise we made to Lagosians in 2015 and, today, I am happy to see the faces of the people whose lives and aspirations have been positively impacted by this programme.”
While acknowledging the positive difference the beneficiaries of the scheme were making in the state, Ambode said the vision was to use it to grow Lagos economy by supporting entrepreneurship, which in turn, would help to create jobs for unemployed residents.
He said the beneficiaries of the LSETF programmes range from the youth to senior citizens in active business across all 20 local government areas (LGAs) and 37 local community development areas (LCDAs) in the state.
“Apart from the jobs being created, I am especially pleased to see testimonials from some of our beneficiaries. I watched the video of Ibrahim Shuaib, a final year student of dentistry at the Lagos State University Medical School. With a loan of N250,000, Ibrahim has not only grown his dry-cleaning business, employing over 20 people, but also started another business, which his sister runs.
“I also read about Femi Oyedipe, whose chocolate production business, Loshes Chocolate, can now produce 10 times more than before, employing more Lagosians as staff. Apart from employing more people, Loshes Chocolate makes its products from cocoa beans sourced from Ondo State, creating value for farmers outside Lagos. This is a very good example of the inter-state economic partnership Nigeria needs to grow its economy,” Ambode added.
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has also hailed the state government for coming up with the brilliant idea. Osinbajo, who spoke while delivering a keynote address at the Special Parliamentary Session to mark the third anniversary of the 8th Assembly of the Lagos State House of Assembly, said it was particularly laudable that over 12,500 new jobs were created within the first six months of the scheme.
He said the LSETF was an excellent example of how state governments could intervene in creating opportunities for small businesses.
“As of May 2018, 7,000 loans, totalling about N5 billion, have already been given out and 12,500 jobs were created even within the first six months of its operation.
“This is a very important initiative of the state government and we think that it is important because it understands and addresses the concern of an important segment of our society – the young bright minds that require some capital to multiply their thoughts and trade,” Osinbajo said.
One of the beneficiaries of the LSETF loan programme, Mr Adeoye Olumide of Jetco Global Farms, said his company was granted N3.750 million loan. He said he got the loan without any connections in government, adding that the multiplier effect of the scheme was amazing as more people had been employed in his business.
“This is so unbelievable and it is so amazing. The positive effect on the entire value chain with this empowerment is very laudable and very commendable,” Olumide said.