The Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF) has marked its tenth anniversary with a milestone briefing that lays out a decade of measurable impact on jobs and enterprise support across Lagos State. The disclosure was made on Monday, June 15, 2026, by the Executive Secretary, Feyitayo Alayande, at a media parley in Ikeja, where she presented the agency’s 10-year impact report.

Established in 2016 to tackle unemployment and support entrepreneurship in Lagos, the Fund has centred its work on improving access to finance, skills development, market opportunities and technology support for residents. Alayande described these as the real differentiators between entrepreneurs who succeed and those who do not.

A Decade in Numbers

320,000+
Direct & indirect jobs created since 2016
₦15bn+
Disbursed via 20,000+ loans to MSMEs
173,000
Existing jobs preserved from potential loss
82,000+
Small businesses supported through capacity-building
30,000+
Young people trained & connected to employment
1,200+
Tech startups backed under Lagos Innovates, with 3,300+ tech talents developed

Alayande attributed these outcomes to institutional design, strategic partnerships and the commitment of the agency’s workforce, noting that collaborations with development partners had significantly expanded LSETF’s reach across the state.

Repayment Rate as Proof of Concept

One figure the Executive Secretary returned to repeatedly was LSETF’s loan repayment rate, which currently stands at 94.53 per cent. For Alayande, this number is less about the agency’s books and more about what it reveals about Lagos entrepreneurs and their commitment when given genuine opportunity.

“Our repayment rate is not just a financial metric. It demonstrates that when people are given genuine opportunities and treated with dignity, they honour their commitments. Lagos entrepreneurs have consistently shown that they are not a risk but an opportunity.”

— Feyitayo Alayande, Executive Secretary, LSETF

Partnerships and Human Impact Stories

LSETF credited much of its decade-long reach to collaborations with development partners and organisations including GIZ, UNDP, King’s Trust International, Lafarge, and several Lagos State government ministries. Two human-impact stories were highlighted at the briefing: a woman living with a disability who, through an LSETF-Lafarge skills partnership, acquired mobile phone repair capabilities and built a sustainable livelihood; and a female entrepreneur who, after participating in the Lagos Innovates programme, went on to showcase her innovation at GITEX — one of the world’s leading technology exhibitions.

Alayande used these examples to reinforce a central argument: the gap between a person who builds something and one who cannot is rarely one of talent — it is almost always one of access to capital, knowledge, markets and professional networks.

“The difference between someone who succeeds and someone who does not is often access. Access to capital, access to knowledge, access to markets and access to networks. That is the gap LSETF was created to bridge.”

— Feyitayo Alayande, Executive Secretary, LSETF

What’s Next: Lagos Employment Summit 4.0

Looking ahead, LSETF says it will deepen its interventions by expanding access to capital for growing businesses, scaling up youth training programmes, and strengthening support for technology-driven enterprises. The agency announced plans to convene the Lagos Employment Summit 4.0 in the fourth quarter of 2026 — a platform that will bring together government agencies, the private sector, development partners and civil society groups to chart the next phase of job creation and enterprise development in Lagos State.

Why This Matters for Lagos Businesses

For SMEs, startups and job seekers across Lagos, a well-capitalised, decade-tested support structure exists — but, as Alayande herself acknowledged, many eligible entrepreneurs, founders and job seekers remain unaware of the funding, training and innovation support available to them. Businesses considering access to LSETF-backed finance, skills development or the Lagos Innovates programme may find this an opportune moment to explore eligibility, as the agency signals an intent to expand its support base ahead of the Lagos Employment Summit 4.0 later this year.