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Lagos-CARES: Government empowers 100 SME owners with PoS phones

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State

*The Lagos State Government says the COVID-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus (CARES) Programme is a state-level intervention that seeks to mitigate and cushion the effects of the pandemic on the residents of Lagos

Gbenga Kayode | ConsumerConnect

In view of the damaging effects of the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and subsequent lockdowns on residents of the state in the last two years, the Lagos State Government (LASG) has empowered 100 small business owners in Alimosho Local Government Area of the state with smart Point of Sale (PoS) phones to enhance their businesses.

ConsumerConnect reports the LASG through the Nigeria COVID-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus (CARES) Programme, also called Lagos-CARES, also plans to give a million small business owners the smart PoS phones in order to reduce poverty level in the country.

Mrs. Teju Abisoye, Executive Secretary, Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF), during the presentation to the Alimosho beneficiaries Friday, January 21, 2022, said Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State was aware of the negative impacts of the COVID-19 lockdowns on Lagosians and their businesses.

Abisoye, who noted that Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu hopes to eradicate poverty with the programme, described the CARES programme as “a state-level intervention that seeks to mitigate and cushion the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the residents of Lagos.”

The Executive Secretary also said the World Bank had directed that focus of the programme should be more on 70 percent women and 30 percent men ratio, having identified women as the most vulnerable in the society.

The programme, she noted, besides enabling the small business owners to provide PoS services, would also allow them to get credit grant, operations grant, and IT enhancement grant.

Abisoye further stated: “Under the credit grant, there will be a conditional capital grant for co-financing up to 40 per cent of new loans that were taken by June 2020 and originated by a financial institution licensed by Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to qualified beneficiaries in Covid-19 crisis.

“For the operations grant, conditional grants would be given to support ongoing operational expenditure, bringing about employment and job creation grants. This covers operating expenses such as payroll, rent, utilities, alternative power supply among others. It also excludes taxes and regulatory levies,” she said.

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