Lagos offers incentives to businesses with large number of people to avoid job loss

As part of the plan to open up the economy in Lagos after two months of lockdown, the state governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu has said that businesses that employ a large number of people will be offered incentives to prevent job loss.

Sanwo-Olu in a statement on Friday, May 23, 2020, said the state government is having conversations with different sectors on the requirements they need to ensure their staff are not retrenched.

The governor said what many of the companies want will affect the state’s Internally Generated Revenue. He, however, assured that the state will make the sacrifice to prevent the loss of livelihood of citizens.

On reopening of economy, Sanwo-Olu said it won’t be hastily done, adding that various sectors will be reset in a gradual manner.

The statement reads, “As the commercial centre of the country, we are offering incentives to businesses that employ a large number of people to avoid job loss. In our plan to re-open the economy, businesses will follow our Register-to-Open guidelines with protocols that workplaces must put in place.

“This and more are some of the things I spoke about earlier today as a panellist in a webinar discussion organised by @FSDHAssetMgt where I gave a frontline account of how Lagos has worked to combat the #COVID19 pandemic and how we are now working to open up the economy.

“We are caught between managing hunger & sustaining an economy that is not only dependent on commercial activities in Lagos alone but also in other states. We are at the stage where we have to balance public health safety & the economy that affects the well-being of the people.

“We are having conversations with different sectors on the requirements they need to ensure they do not retrench their staff. What many of the companies want will affect the State’s IGR but we are willing to make the sacrifice to prevent the loss of livelihood of our citizens.

“The re-opening will not be hastily done. The various sectors will be reset in a gradual manner. The construction and manufacturing sector will be accorded high priority while the entertainment and hospitality sectors will be considered in the second phase.

“We are trying to balance the reactivation of the state’s economic activities and our response in containing #COVID19. We are committed to tackling this virus and breaking the cycle of transmission but we must all do our parts, #TakeResponsibility and comply with the guidelines”.