The governor of Lagos state, Babajide Sanwo-Olu has identified the 72- hour non stop shopping Festival (LSF) as a major boost to the state’s festival economy.
The inaugural festival held at Mobolaji Johnson Arena, Onikan, offered a non-stop shopping with music performances.
Commenting on the significance of the shopping festival, the governor stressed that it would serve as an addition to the chain of festivals and bolster the growth of small medium enterprises (SME) in the state.
“This maiden edition was about strategic scaling and optimisation of small businesses, connecting shoppers with Micro, Small, and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs).
“We are gradually building a festival economy for our great State. This idea of a 72-hour shopping festival is another strategic pillar on which the full edifice of a festival economy at Yuletide can rest,” he said.
He lauded the organisers, Chain Reactions Africa Ltd, commending their efforts in building another pillar upon which a solid festival economy is being erected.
He expressed satisfaction over the economic impact in the state, saying many jobs were created during the festival.
“Thousands of young people were gainfully engaged within the event management and commercial value chain of the Lagos Shopping Festival around design, set-up of the stage set, the sound system, the lighting system, crowd control, the volunteer network, ambience branding, and exhibition booth installation, to mention but a few,” he added.
The Managing Director, Chain Reactions Africa, Israel Opayemi expressed commitment to deliver excellence in staging the next edition, appreciating the state government for offering support to host entrepreneurs.
“The festival has put Lagos in the league of other global Cities such as Dubai, Istanbul, London, Cannes, Paris amongst others. What gladdens us is that the LSF is the place where local MSMEs like fashion designers were able to showcase their brands to a wider audience and received great patronage as showcased by the many testimonials by the vendors who participated,” he said.
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