The Lagos State Government says by 2019, no fewer than 100,000 new entrepreneurs would have been created from the N25bn Lagos State Employment Trust Fund.

It added that the fund had been set up to provide financial support to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) within the next three years.

The Executive Secretary of the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF), Mr. Akintunde Oyebode, stated this on Monday in Ikeja, adding that the fund was in line with Governor Akinwunmi Ambode’s vision to create employment and entrepreneurship opportunities for Lagosians.

He said the board set up to manage the fund had spent the last few months perfecting strategies and addressing grey areas ahead of the commencement of the disbursement of the fund later this year.

He said, “The board, working with its appointed consultants, has developed a strategic framework articulating the goals, the key interventions designed to enhance job creation, and the supporting infrastructure needed to deliver the set goals. This exercise has now been concluded and approved by the Lagos State Executive Council.”

Oyebode said the fund would provide loans to MSMEs at single digit interest rates per annum, while training and capacity building and technical support would be provided to drive growth and job creation.

“The businesses we will support must demonstrate capacity to repay our loans; be owned by Lagos residents duly registered by the Lagos State Residents Registration Agency; show evidence of tax payments to the Lagos Inland Revenue Service; and have valid Bank Verification Numbers,” he added.

Oyebode expressed optimism that the fund would have a multiplier effect with the capacity to create 300,000 direct and 600,000 indirect jobs while about 200,000 new taxpayers would be added to the state’s tax net.

The Commissioner for Wealth Creation and Employment, Dr Babatunde Durosinmi-Etti, said Ambode’s administration was committed to ensuring that the fund imparted positive value to the lives of Lagosians.

He lauded the plan by the LSETF board to set up offices in 20 local government areas in the state, saying that it would ensure that no area was marginalised.

“It is important that this process has taken considerable time. We need to make it work and also ensure that it is to the benefit of all Lagosians,” Durosinmi-Etti said.

The Chairman, House Committee on Wealth Creation and Employment, Sola Giwa, assured that members of the House would give the operational guidelines of the fund expeditious passage.