It added that it has extended the tax filing deadline for MSMEs by 60 days and the loan moratorium by 90 days to ease MSMEs’ working capital challenges. The governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, disclosed at the 6th Edition of the Lagos State MSMEs exclusive fair held in Lagos, with the theme: ‘Effect of COVID-19: Charting the way forward for MSMEs.’ Represented by the secretary to the state government, Mrs. Fola-shade Jaji, Sanwo-Olu said the state government was passionately committed to the growth of small businesses.

He said the state government recognized the role of MSMEs in economic emancipation and their pivotal spot in the social and economic development of the state. According to him, in the last two years, we have committed substantial resources to the sustainability of MSMEs, but the pandemic has further exposed the need for the public and private sectors to meticulously develop the capacity of the SME sector for growth and profitability.

He said the goal is to ensure that small businesses in Lagos State overcome the challenges of the economic crisis associated with the pandemic as well as the destruction and looting that followed the EndSARS protest. While stressing that the government was working together with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to resolve the problems of access to finance by MSMEs, he added that in line with this, the CBN had established the N220billion Micro and Medium Enterprises Development Fund (MSMEDF), among other schemes. Further to this, he called on relevant stakeholders to collaborate and innovatively chart a new trajectory for economic diversification, growth, and sustainability of MSMEs.