Payment system provider, Flutterwave has committed N5 million to a fund for businesses that were affected by the ugly aftermath of the #EndSARS protest across Lagos State.
The company said it is collaborating with the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF), and companies led by Endeavor Entrepreneurs to create the fund.
The new fund called Small Business Fund is part of the #KeepTheLightsOn for Business campaign which it launched during the pandemic.
“We understand what it means to build; the difficulty, the emotional effort, and the financial strain. We also cannot imagine how these people feel, seeing their hard work looted and/or burnt down. We want to tell you that we are always with you and will always stand by you. If you’d like to support these businesses, you can click this link to donate from anywhere in the world,” the company said in a blog post.
Read more Three things we learnt from Flutterwave on card payment processing
The N5 million pledge comprises of a discounted processing fee and securing a space on Flutterwave store in Lagos for every beneficiary.
The company said building the Flutterwave store during the knockdowns was a show of support to the many small businesses that could no longer sell in person.
“Now, we are offering each of the affected businesses, the opportunity to create a Flutterwave Store so they can sell seamlessly online while rebuilding,” the fintech firm said.
Beneficiaries are also entitled to a discounted processing fee for the next three months. With processing fees out of the way, businesses that were affected will only need the funds to create or purchase their products.
Tech-enabled businesses or startups will get $5,000 worth of cloud hosting capacity.
Flutterwave had contributed to the #EndSARS at its early beginning, by becoming the payment channel in which protest organisers secured financial sponsorships from within and outside the country to keep the movement going. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) allegedly clamped down on the platform forcing protest organisers to resort to other channels such as cryptocurrencies.
“We support numerous tech-enabled startups. For most of them, we are like an embedded team. We know their story and they know ours. But unfortunately, some have been caught in the middle of the recent unrest. We are here to support you; to build back better. Cloud hosting and storage are a major source of cost for startups and we are offering to take that burden off their shoulders. Register here to stand a chance to benefit,” Flutterwave said.
