LSETF doles out over #8bn to businesses

By Merit Ibe

The  Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF), established to provide  financial assistance to residents of the state for job and wealth creation has dispensed about #8.4billion in loans to businesses since 2016 when it was established.

Speaking at a media parley, Executive Secretary, LSETF,   Teju Abisoye and Sheila Ojei, Director, Strategy  Funding and Stakeholder Management, explained that the government institution,  which  focuses on promoting entrepreneurship by improving access to finance , strengthening institutional capacity of MSMEs and formulating policies has  created over  168,000 jobs, saved 76,000 jobs, supported 53,000 businesses, increased the number of tax payers to 68,000, trained13,000 young persons and had 12,710 loan beneficiaries as at the end April.

Disclosing  that the loan scheme attracts a nine percent interest rate per annum, except for the W- initiative loan, which attracts a 10 percent interest rate per annum and Leap Tourism loan which attracts an interest rate of 5 percent per annum,  she said the loans are available to business owners who are registered residents of  Lagos state. 

The different categories of loan programmes include Micro enterprise loan(#50,000-#500,00); micro enterprise start up loan(#50,000-#250,000); SME loan(#500,000-#5,000,000); LSETF/First-Edu loan(500,000-#5,000,000); LSETF/EDFIN Edu loan(#500,000-#5,000,000); LEAP Tourism Loan(#100,000-#5,000,000) and the Women Entrepreneurs loan (W-Initiative)(#50,000-#5,000,000).

Requirements for the loan programmes include LASRRA ID, valid government issued ID, bank verification number, two passport photographes, tax ID(LIRS) and a vocational training certificate (MES loan only).

Apart from loan programmes, LSETF  also has the employment support project which seeks to curb the problem of unemployment in Lagos by increasing the pool of skilled manpower through vocational training programs and job placements.

Other programmes include the Lagos innovates, a series of programmes designed for the benefit of technology and innovation- driven startups in Lagos. 

The Lagos Covid-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus (CARES) programme is a state-level intervention that seeks to migrate the local effects of the pandemic, by protecting the livelihoods of existing, newly poor and vulnerable households and supporting the recovery of local economic activity, especially among MSMEs. 

The programme provides grants in three categories, namely credit grant, operational grant and  IT Enhancement grant.