Lagos State commissioner for commerce, industry, and cooperatives, Lola Akande, has explained reasons why the current administration established the Micro, Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (MSMEs) Hub in the state.
Speaking at a ministerial briefing, Monday, to mark the second year in office of the Babajide Sanwo-Olu-led administration, Akande said the hub was a deliberate effort by the government to encourage the growth of the MSMEs sector.
The MSME Fashion Hub which is located off Allen Avenue, in Ikeja, is a shared facility under the national MSME Clinic Scheme designed to serve over 380 MSMEs with the government providing necessary facilities and equipment.
Akande said the establishment of the hub was in line with the THEMES agenda of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu towards making Lagos a twenty-first-century economy, especially given the role of MSMEs as the engine of economic growth and employment generation.
Meanwhile, the capital base of cooperative societies in Lagos State has hit N33 billion.
While also speaking on this, Akande said there were a total of 2,359 cooperative societies in the state. She said the cooperative insurance scheme has also made a payment of N50,702,337. She added that 247 new cooperatives were registered, 807 annual accounts approved, with 410 mediation and 1,693 routine inspections conducted in the last one year.
According to her, as part of efforts to ensure best practices, the ministry is championing that courses offered by the Lagos State Cooperative College be accredited by the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) to run national diploma in the field of cooperative economics, management, microfinance and entrepreneurship development.
Akande noted that the college from time to time has organised various human capacity building programmes for over 4,000 co-operators in the state.
The commissioner revealed that as part of efforts to ensure consumer satisfaction, the Lagos State Consumer Protection Agency (LASCOPA) has recovered over N44 million as compensation and outright refund of payment for returned substandard goods and services for various categories of consumers in the state. She also said that LASCOPA through its mediation sessions received 1018 complaints.
According to her, in the period under review, 148 harmonised inspections were carried out, with 92 routine inspections carried out in workplaces as a means of ensuring improved welfare package for the employees with relevant regulations.
