How To Apply for Lagos CARES Grant 

The application portal for the Lagos CARES program is now open to receive your applications.

The programme has also expanded its eligibility criteria to accommodate more enterprises:

· Nano enterprises (businesses with 1-2 employees) can now benefit from the grant.

· Beneficiaries of the Operations Grant are now eligible for the Credit Grant provided they have a loan that was taken from June 16, 2020, to date, from a licensed microfinance or commercial bank.

· In addition, previous beneficiaries of the Credit Grant can now apply for the Operations Grant.

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As a result of the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic and in line with the vision of the Federal Government of Nigeria to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in ten years, the Federal Government of Nigeria sought and obtained assistance from the World Bank to implement a two-year emergency response programme, named the Nigeria COVID-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus (NG-CARES).

The Lagos COVID-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus (CARES) Program is a state-level intervention that seeks to mitigate the local effects of the COVID-19 worldwide pandemic at the state-level, by protecting the livelihoods of existing and newly poor and vulnerable households and supporting the recovery of local economic activity especially among MSMEs.

The program consists of 3 Results Areas (RAs) as defined below:

• RA1 – Focuses on Social Protection
• RA2 – Focuses on Agriculture and;
• RA3 – Focuses on Micro Small and Medium scale enterprises (MSMEs)

As the State’s MDA responsible for MSME intervention, LSETF will anchor RA3, which is aimed at providing relief, facilitating the recovery, and enhancing capabilities of local MSMEs through support designed to reduce the vulnerability and cushion the effect of income-loss brought about by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and its resultant disruption to regular commercial activity.

You can apply here! 

Credit Grant This provides credit grants to co-finance up to 40% of performing loans taken by businesses from June 16 2020 till date from qualified financial institutions after the onset of the COVID-19 crisis.

Operations Grant This is a conditional grant to support ongoing operational expenditure. This Grant covers up to 50% of any verifiable/ documented monthly operational cost for 6 months, including but not limited to staff salaries, documented utilities, rent, documented private security expenses, alternative power supply etc.

IT Enhancement Grant The IT Enhancement Grant supports MSEs to increase their capacity through the adoption of technology, and upgrade of Digital Technology, particularly tools that support remote work.​ It is a non-cash grant which covers IT infrastructure, connectivity, and digital technology tools e.g., Laptops, Internet services, e-Commerce tools, productivity software suites etc.

Go ahead and apply!