SEDC Targets One Trillion Dollars In Next 10 Years

Posted by African Examiner Featured, Latest Headlines, News, News Across Nigeria Tuesday, February 3rd, 2026

(AFRICAN EXAMINER) – The South East Development Commission (SEDC), says her ambition is to make the region Nigeria’s investment destination, with a target of growing the economy to a value of 1 trillion US dollars in the next decade.

It said the Commission hopes to realize the lofty dream through Coordinated robust economic plans and strategic collaboration amongst the fives states of the South East geo political zone of Nigeria, Enugu, Abia, Anambra, Imo and Ebonyi.

Managing Director/Chief Executive officer (CEO) of the Commission, Hon. Mark Okoye, stated this in Enugu on Monday during a media briefing to highlight its journey so far since inception.

The SEDC boss, who was accompanied by some top officials of the Commission, equally used the briefing to announce activities lined up for the forthcoming Economic Stakeholders forum on the South East vision (2050 (SEV2050) to to be graced by Nigeria’s Vice president, Alhaji Kashim Shettima in Enugu.

According to him, the long term development frame work of the Commission is anchored on a one region, one market philosophy aimed at deepening economic integration, promote specialization and unlock scale advantages across the South East.

He said: “our objective is build a coordinated regional economy that leverages the comparative and competitive strengths of each state, while pulling resources to create a much larger and more resilient economic block.

“If we work as one region, and one market, the shift from 40 billion dollars to 200 billion dollars target will be an understatement, positing that the South East can realistically achieve a 1 trillion dollar economy within the next ten years.

Hon. Okoye, stressed that the commencement of the “South East Vision 2050” Regional Stakeholders Forum, marks a pivotal step in the commission’s mission to transform the region’s economic landscape.

While thanking president Bola Ahmed Tinubu for the establishment of the Commission and opportunity given to him and his colleagues to serve, the MD, disclose that the forum, scheduled to kick off Tuesday morning, is designed to gather critical input from both state and non-state actors to develop a sustainable, long-term regional development master plan.

Okoye, noted that the commission has spent its first 11 months since inauguration “giving teeth” to the brand-new agency, emphasizing that the SEDC was established by law to address the deep-seated infrastructure and ecological challenges in the south East region, dating back to the Civil War.

Enumerating some of the progress recorded so far, he said the management team began meeting seven weeks before their official inauguration on February 10 last year, and since then, they have secured board approval for a strategic two-year roadmap aimed at driving targeted interventions across the five southeast states.

”When we started, the agency did not exist in practice—there was no office, no staff, and no infrastructure,” describing the current team as the “pioneer staff” who had to build the institution’s foundation from scratch while simultaneously planning for the region’s future.

He hinted that the Commission’s “ambitious stakeholder engagement exercise, saw him and his team visiting over 250 federal Agencies, stating that the goal was to establish the SEDC’s presence and create a platform that streamlines federal projects within the Southeast.

The SEDC management he said, also spent significant time with the dedicated SEDC committees in both the upper and lower chambers of the National Assembly NASS, with a view to ensuring political and budgetary alignment for its developmental goals.

He announced that the upcoming Vision 2050 forum is expected to host a diverse groups, including those coming from the diaspora, noting that the media’s role is essential in capturing and communicating the commission’s strategic roadmap to the public.

The commission’s mandate includes the reconstruction and rehabilitation of roads and houses, as well as tackling the persistent ecological problems that have hindered the zone’s growth for decades.

He expressed optimism that the transition from institutional building to visible regional projects will define the next phase of the commission’s journey toward the 2050 vision.

Plans are also afoot in the Commission towards venturing into areas as sports and Agriculture, so as to ensure food security as well as have state of the art sporting facilities across the region to groom talents.

ENDs.