The Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF) has announced the maiden edition of its ‘LSETF Employment Summit’, scheduled to hold on Wednesday, 5th February –Thursday, 6th February 2020 at the Radisson Blu Hotel Ikeja, Lagos State.
The LSETF Employment Summit 2020 themed “Showcasing Leading Practices in Job Creation” is the Fund’s strategic platform that will bring together stakeholders to discuss and share winning strategies, plans, achievements and interventions on sustainable job creation and tackling unemployment in Lagos and Nigeria at large.
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. LSETF believes the summit will also be an opportunity to showcase other leading models as case studies for job creation, that can be replicated and used to accelerate existing interventions for a more holistic approach towards tackling unemployment in the country and beyond.
Since the inception of the Fund 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.
An independent Impact Assessment Report supported by the Ford Foundation in 2018, shows that beneficiaries of LSETF’s various programmes were able to create almost 100,000 jobs within two years. In another report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), within the same period, Lagos State created the most jobs in the country, resulting in a 6.7% drop in the unemployment rate in the last quarter of 2018.
In his opening remarks at the press conference to announce the Summit, a Member, Board of Trustees, LSETF, Dele Martins stated this year’s theme hinges 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”.
“I believe strongly that this Summit aligns with the ‘Next Level’ goals of both the Federal Government and the Lagos State Government’s THEMES agenda on job creation”, he said.
Speaking further on the Summit, the Acting Executive Secretary, LSETF, Mrs Teju Abisoye stated; “We look forward to working with the Nigeria Governors’ Forum as we host representatives of State Government across the 35 states, Government agencies, NGOs, International Donor Agencies and Corporate organisations across Africa and the world”.
Mrs. Abisoye also encouraged organizations, agencies, entrepreneurs, youth, women and the general public to join the conversation and take deliberate steps to create jobs.
The Summit will focus on Jobs for the Future: Leveraging Technology for Job Creation, Generating employment opportunities through Agriculture, Women and Entrepreneurship, Government as an enabler for Job Creation, SME financing, The Importance of Monitoring and Evaluation for Sustainable Impact amongst others. Some of the confirmed speakers include: Mrs. Ndidi Nwunel, Managing Partner, Sahel Capital, Ms. Sharmi Surianarain, Chief Impact Officer, Harambee Youth Accelerator, South Africa, Dipo Faulkner, Country General Manager, IBM, Dr. Ndidi Nnoli, Group Chief, Sustainability and Governance, Dangote Group, Mrs. Ajibola Ponnle, Honorable Commissioner, Establishment, Training and Pension and Mrs. Solape Hammond, Special Adviser, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGS) and Lagos Global.
The Fund also appreciated partners and sponsors for their valuable contributions towards hosting a successful summit. The partners include IBM, Harambee Youth Accelerator South Africa, FCMB, Tek Experts, GIZ, Eko Innovation Centre (EIC), Jobberman, SOS Children’s Village, International Breweries, and Coca-Cola.
