The Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF) capital base has hit N11.1bn with about N7.3bn disbursed to over 11,000 micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
Acting Executive Secretary of the fund, Mrs Teju Abisoye, disclosed this while briefing newsmen on the ‘LSETF Employment Summit’ scheduled to hold February 5- 6, 2020 in Lagos with theme, “Showcasing Leading Practices in Job Creation.”
The summit is part of upscaling the fund’s activities aimed at solving the global challenge of unemployment as representatives from the 35 states of the federation and job creators would be showcasing leading strategies to create jobs.
Since its inception in 2016, LSETF has positioned itself as a pivotal force in reducing the rate of unemployment in Nigeria, by providing entrepreneurship and employment opportunities for Lagos residents for job and wealth creation.
Already, research has shown that the 11,000 beneficiaries of the fund have created over 100,000 jobs.
The ES said, “The current administration is definitely committed to Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF). We have been funded in 2019 by the current administration and we have a capital base now of about N11.1bn. We have disbursed over N7.3bn to over 11000 MSMEs and we actually have very good payback.”
The fund will showcase the impact and learnings from its interventions with representatives from other state governments, corporate organisations and international development agencies responsible for job and wealth creation.
Mrs. Abisoye said the primary target of the seminar “are people who can create jobs in large number, adding that there are participants from outside Africa attending the seminar.
She charged organisations, agencies, entrepreneurs, youth, women and the general public to join the conversation and take deliberate steps to create jobs.
A member, Board of Trustees of the fund, Mr. Dele Martins, said the theme hinged on the understanding that “by drawing successful experiences from both the private and public sectors in putting people to productive work, we can identify sustainable solutions for job creation.”
He said the population pressure being experienced in Lagos is due to shrinking opportunities across states, prompting people to migrate in search of opportunities.
