Flutterwave partners LSETF, donates ₦5 million to MSME Recovery Fund

Flutterwave has donated ₦5 million to support businesses affected by the aftermath of the #LekkiMassacre and the 24-hour curfew in Lagos.

On October 20, 2020 peaceful #EndSARS protesters had a sit-in at the Lekki Toll Gate because of the 24-hour curfew announced across Lagos State. But before the curfew scheduled for 9 PM set in, some officers of the Nigerian Army began to shoot at them around 6:45 PM. Some protesters were killed and many were injured.

As a result of the wanton killing, hoodlums ravaged the city of Lagos. They destroyed properties and pillaged stores and restaurants. Another set of people were also discovering and plundering warehouses where COVID-19 palliatives are stored.

Hence, on October 23, the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF) launched the Lagos MSME (Micro-, Small- and Medium Enterprises) Recovery Fund to support businesses that were looted and destroyed during the five-day 24-hour curfew. Register here before October 30, 2020 to receive support.

At the moment, the deadline has not been extended, the spokesperson for Flutterwave said. Any extension will be properly communicated.

Are you a Lagos based business and your store got looted/vandalized during the curfew?

LSETF is here to help.

Fill out form this form https://t.co/bFKQtE7k2M

Let’s save Lagos.#MakingLagosA21stCenturyState #SaveLagos #Recovery #Collaboration

— Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (@LSETF) October 23, 2020

Flutterwave, one of the big fintech companies in Nigeria, is partnering with LSETF and private companies led by Endeavor Entrepreneurs to crowdfund support for the businesses by the recent unrest in Lagos.

Endeavor Entrepreneurs are founders selected to be part of Endeavor's global network. Endeavor is an organisation that provides support as well as funding for companies across the world. There are 11 Endeavor Entrepreneur-led companies in Nigeria, including 54gene, Kobo360, and Flutterwave.

"We are partnering with Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF), and companies led by Endeavor Entrepreneurs to provide support for businesses that have been affected by the recent unrest in Lagos", Flutterwave said.

Flutterwave says it has donated ₦5 million and anyone from anywhere in the world can also contribute to the Fund.

Recall that Flutterwave #EndSARS Fund was instrumental in providing support for the protest against police brutality. Before the donation link was deactivated, over ₦25 million had been raised. Flutterwave started the #EndSARS Fund with ₦2 million.

This commitment to support businesses affected by the unrest is in line with Flutterwave's #KeepTheLightsOn campaign that was launched in May 2020 to support businesses affected by coronavirus.

When the dust settles, we’ll see how much we’ve all lost in this crisis. @GrowthLabHQ’s coworking hub was looted and vandalised last week. We’ll recover, but our hearts goes to those who lost lives and livelihoods they can’t recover. We hope Lagos will recover too. pic.twitter.com/uzAy7p42AH

— Dotun Olowoporoku (@DrDotun) October 25, 2020

In addition to receiving funds from the MSME Recovery Fund, all beneficiaries will also get discounted processing fee and Flutterwave Store from us, the payment processing company said. This means businesses that qualify for financial support would be charged discounted processing fees for the next three months. Currently, Flutterwave charges 1.4% for local transactions and 3.8% for international transactions.

Also, these businesses can set up online store or website with Flutterwave Store while they rebuild their physical infrastructure.

Flutterwave will also be giving $5,000 worth of cloud hosting to each tech-enable small and medium enterprises or startups among the beneficiaries of the MSME Recovery Fund. "Cloud hosting and storage is a major source of for startups and we are offering to take that burden off their shoulders", Flutterwave said.

"Our support for SMEs across Africa is a part of our DNA and this post-curfew initiative is part of a long history of help extended to small businesses in the recent past. We have also partnered with Visa, Google and other brands to support small businesses with free courses, ad spend and more".

Indeed, Flutterwave has been supporting businesses and the Nigerian tech ecosystem. From organising a fundraiser for #StopRobbingUs, a job fair for developers sacked by Andela, to launching stores to support business during the pandemic.

Similarly, Paystack, which was recently acquired by Stripe, Wednesday announced that it has partnered with Google to help over 500,000 SMEs in Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa to restart, recover and digitise their businesses with new tools, financial support, and training. Get started here.