– Dr Nelson Omenugha, mnipr
(nomenugha@gmail.com)
The launch of the South East Venture Capital Programme (SEVCP) is an encouraging economic empowerment and development initiative. By deploying investment capital to high-potential startups, the programme has proven that right partnerships and drive can unlock innovation and attract investment to the South East.
I must thank Mr Mark Okoye and the team at the South East Development Commission for the depth of planning, stakeholder mobilization, strategic partnerships, and resource commitment that made this initiative possible. I appreciate the efforts being committed to position the South East for economic competitiveness. More importantly, I’m thrilled by the deliberate focus on empowering young entrepreneurs whose ideas, energy, and enterprise will shape the future of our regional economy.
It’s important we appreciate that venture capital is a starting point and not the destination. Within this context, SEDC must guarantee programme sustainability roadmap as the true measure of programme success will not be the number of startups funded today, but the number of sustainable businesses built, jobs created, industries strengthened, exports made, and wealth generated “tomorrow”.
This is particularly important because evidence consistently shows that access to finance alone does not guarantee economic transformation. Across Nigeria, MSMEs contribute over 46% of GDP, account for nearly 97% of businesses, and provide almost 88% of employment, yet many continue to struggle due to infrastructure deficits, limited market access, skills gaps, regulatory constraints, and inadequate institutional support. (PwC)
Global evidence is also clear. The world’s leading innovation ecosystems were built not merely on capital, but on an integrated ecosystem consisting of infrastructure, skill, research, market access, supportive policy, and long-term institutional commitment. Its same experience from Silicon Valley in the United States to Bangalore in India and Shenzhen in China.
If SEVCP is to become a sustainable engine of regional prosperity, the next phase must focus on six strategic pillars.
1. Build Regional Innovation Infrastructure: Every South East state should host (whether in form of partnership) modern innovation hubs, technology parks, fabrication laboratories, digital skills centres, and entrepreneurship incubators linked through a coordinated regional innovation network. Innovation does not scale in isolation. It scales through ecosystems.
The South East already possesses a strong entrepreneurial culture. What is required is the infrastructure that allows ideas to move from concept to commercialization.
2. Commercialize Research from Universities: The South East is home to some of Nigeria’s strongest universities and research institutions. Yet a significant proportion of academic research never reaches the marketplace.
SEDC should establish University-Industry Commercialization Centres to facilitate patent development, technology transfer, startup formation, and industrial partnerships.
The future economic leaders of the region may already be sitting inside our laboratories and lecture halls. We must create pathways that connect knowledge to enterprise.
3. Expand Access Beyond the First Cohort: The twenty-five startups that received funding deserve recognition, but they represent only a fraction of the entrepreneurial potential within the region.
A sustainable pipeline should include:
i. Startup acceleration programmes
ii. Entrepreneurship academies
iii. Innovation grants
iv. Business incubation platforms
v. Export readiness programmes
vi. Early-stage angel investment networks
Nigeria has over 39 million MSMEs, and small businesses remain the largest source of employment in the economy. Expanding the pipeline of investment-ready businesses should therefore become a regional priority. (data.devbankng.com)
4. Unlock Diaspora Capital and Expertise: The South East diaspora remains one of our greatest untapped economic assets. Across North America, Europe, Asia, and other parts of Africa, Ndi Igbo occupy strategic positions in business, technology, healthcare, academia, manufacturing, and finance.
SEDC should establish a South East Diaspora Investment and Innovation Platform capable of mobilizing:
i. Investment capital
ii. Mentorship networks
iii. Technical expertise
iv. Technology transfer
v. Market access opportunities
I’m aware that the Commission has already initiated conversations and calls around mentorship and partnerships. The next step is building institutional mechanisms that convert goodwill into measurable economic outcomes.
5. Create Sector-Specific Investment Funds: Future investment vehicles should target sectors where the South East possesses clear comparative advantages:
i. Manufacturing
ii. Agribusiness
iii. Healthcare and Education
iv. Technology
v. Renewable Energy
vi. Creative Industries
vii. Logistics and Trade
viii. Industrial Clusters
This approach will deepen value chains, improve productivity, strengthen exports, and accelerate industrialization.
Particularly in manufacturing and agro-processing, the South East can become a major production hub serving both domestic and regional markets.
6. Institutionalize Measurement and Accountability: What gets measured gets improved. SEDC should publish annual scorecards tracking:
i. Jobs created
ii. Startups scaled
iii. Investments attracted
iv. Patents commercialized
v. Export earnings generated
vi. SMEs supported
vii. Industrial output growth
viii. Youth participation rates
ix. Diaspora investments mobilized
Transparent measurement will help build investor confidence, strengthen public trust, and ensure continuous improvement.
The Bigger Opportunity:
The South East has never lacked talent. What it has historically lacked is coordinated institutional support, patient capital, enabling infrastructure, and long-term economic planning.
The launch of SEVCP is therefore more than a funding programme; for me, it is an opportunity to lay the foundation for a new regional economic model.
Nigeria’s startup ecosystem is now among the strongest in Africa, with over 1,400 active startups and continued growth in innovation-driven enterprises. Yet the regions that will thrive in the coming decades are not necessarily those with the most entrepreneurs, but those with the strongest ecosystems to support them. (startupblink.com)
If SEDC successfully combines venture capital with infrastructure development, industrial policy, research commercialization, diaspora engagement, and skill development, it can build far more than startups. It can build globally competitive industries. It can create thousands of quality jobs and empower our young people. It can expand exports. It can attract investment at scale. And ultimately, it can position the South East as Nigeria’s foremost hub for innovation, enterprise, and inclusive economic growth.
The challenge before us is no longer proving that entrepreneurs exist.
The challenge is creating an ecosystem where innovation can scale, industries can emerge, businesses can thrive, and prosperity can be shared across the region. That is the next frontier.
And that is the agenda the South East Development Commission must now pursue.
