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• We’ll make region investment hub in 10 years –MD
From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
House of Representatives Committee on the South East Development Commission (SEDC) has approved N140 billion 2026 budget proposal for the commission.
Adopting the budget proposal as a working document, chairman of the committee, Chris Nkwonta, commended the Managing Director of the commission, Mr. Mark Okoye, for a job well done.
Nkwonta, who described Okoye as a round peg in a round hole, lauded his vision and economic plans for the development of the South-East zone.
Earlier, the managing director had reeled out the commission’s development plans for the South-East zone.
Part of the plans, according to him, is to construct railways across the five states of the zone, saying it would enhance trade and investment.
“We have a vision to make the South-East a preferred investment hub in the next 10 years and we will achieve this through industrialisation, agriculture and technology,” he said.
Okoye said harmonisation of economic policies across the region was key to making the region a unified economic block.
He commended President Bola Tinubu for approving South East Development Company Limited to enable the commission to get a $1 billion market portfolio in the next 10 years.
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The managing director expressed the commission’s willingness to tackle under-employment, which, according to him, is higher in the zone.
Meanwhile, Okoye has said the SEDC has plans to turn the zone into the investment hub of the country in 10 years.
According to him, the SEDC hopes to actualize the plan through investment in agriculture, industrialization and technology.
“We have a vision to make the South East a preferred investment hub in the next ten years. And we will achieve this through industrialization, agriculture and technology,” he stated.
Okoye noted that the N140 billion budget, would among others cover the SEDC security, project preparation facility, agriculture development program and youth entrepreneurship
Giving a breakdown of the 2026 budget proposal, he noted that “the South East Regional Intervention Projects and Programme, we have a provision of N10.5 billion.
“The South East Regional Economic and Industrial Development Programme, we have about N24.5 billion. The Southeast Zonal Allocation to States Project, N10.25 billion. What we want to do here is a matching grant.
“If we have this fund, the state governments can also say amongst themselves they have another N10 billion, there’s N20 billion for implementation of state-specific programmes.
“We have the Renewed Hope Housing and Market Development Programme. And as I’m going through these budget heads, I’ll be speaking to some of the work that some of our colleagues have done.”
