The South East Development Commission has unveiled an ambitious economic blueprint aimed at expanding the South-East economy from an estimated $40bn to about $200bn within the next decade.

The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the commission, Mark Okoye, disclosed this on Thursday while presenting the commission’s 2026 budget proposal before the House of Representatives Committee on the South East Development Commission at the National Assembly in Abuja.

This is as the House approved the sum of N140bn proposed by the Commission for the execution of projects in the 2026 fiscal year.

Addressing members of the Committee, Okoye said the commission’s development agenda is designed to stimulate growth across key sectors, including industrialisation, agriculture, technology and the creative industry, while also prioritising large-scale infrastructure development to position the South-East as a competitive investment destination on the African continent.

“Achieving the target of a N200bn economy in 10 years requires strong collaboration with state governments, the National Assembly, the private sector and the diaspora community”, he said.

He explained that environmental degradation, particularly gully erosion, remains one of the most pressing challenges confronting the region, noting that the South-East currently has more than 2,700 identified erosion sites.

Okoye said the financial burden of addressing the problem is enormous, noting that the cost of remediating a single erosion site could range between N10bn and N20bn.

To support the region’s long-term development plan, the SEDC boss disclosed that the commission intends to mobilise private sector financing for large-scale infrastructure projects through an investment vehicle.

As part of its development strategy, the SEDC boss said: “The commission plans to capitalise the South-East Investment Company Limited, an investment subsidiary designed to mobilise private sector financing for major infrastructure projects including railways, power, ports and gas pipelines.”

He explained that the company would focus on developing viable projects through feasibility studies and other preparatory processes capable of attracting funding from investors and development partners.

The commission is also developing a regional security initiative aimed at strengthening safety across the five states of the South-East.

Okoye also highlighted the South-East Security Intervention Programme, which seeks to “support the design of a coordinated regional security architecture across the five states of the region.”

According to him, improving security coordination will play a critical role in creating a stable environment required to attract both domestic and foreign investments.

The commission is equally planning to establish a Project Preparation Facility to finance technical groundwork for major infrastructure projects, including feasibility studies, environmental impact assessments and engineering designs.

In the agricultural sector, Okoye disclosed that the commission intends to promote mechanised farming through land clearing and the establishment of large demonstration farms across rural communities.

He said the programme would involve the creation of farms covering between 200 and 300 hectares in different locations to stimulate agricultural production and encourage agro-industrial development.

The initiative, he added, would also establish aggregation centres where smallholder farmers could supply their produce for processing and commercial distribution.

Other initiatives contained in the proposed budget include the South-East Industrialisation Programme, which aims to develop special economic zones capable of attracting manufacturing investments to the region.

The commission also plans to roll out a Youth Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme that will provide funding support for young entrepreneurs and technology startups.

“The Commission will invest in grassroots sports infrastructure to nurture young talents and promote national unity through sports development,” he added.

Responding after the presentation, the Chairman of the House Committee on SEDC, Chris Nkwonta, commended the leadership of the commission for what he described as a comprehensive development plan.

Nkwonta said the committee was encouraged by the progress recorded by the commission within a relatively short period since its inauguration in February 2025.

The Abia lawmaker noted that members of the committee were satisfied with the performance of the commission so far and expressed confidence that the programmes outlined in the proposed budget would accelerate development across the region.

Following deliberations, the committee adopted the commission’s N250bn budget proposal as presented and urged its leadership to sustain the pace of implementation in order to deliver visible development outcomes in the South-East.

The SEDC was established as part of a broader federal initiative to address regional development challenges and bridge infrastructure deficits across Nigeria’s geopolitical zones.

In 2024, Tinubu assented to legislation creating the commission, following years of advocacy by leaders and stakeholders from the South-East who argued that the region required a dedicated intervention agency to tackle its unique developmental challenges, including severe erosion, infrastructure gaps and industrial decline.

The commission was formally inaugurated in February 2025 to drive economic recovery, coordinate large-scale infrastructure projects and support industrial and agricultural development across the five states of Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo.

Its establishment also forms part of the Federal Government’s broader policy of strengthening regional development institutions across the country, similar to intervention agencies created for other regions to address environmental challenges, promote economic growth and reduce developmental disparities.

Meanwhile, the Committee approved the N140bn proposed budget of the Commission.

According to Okoye, the proposed budget has a capital expenditure of N106bn, representing and a recurrent expenditure excluding personnel of about N25bn representing 18.5%, and the personnel cost of N7.3bn at 5.21%, totalling N100bn.

On the budget, Okoye said, “We’ve also seen the 2026 call circular as published by the Federal Ministry of Budget and Planning, which said to all of us, ‘take your entire capital expenditure of last year and bring it to this year because of one or two issues.’ Of course, we are very well aware of what’s going on.

“There were a lot of debts, and what have you, that the government inherited. Last year was about assuring investor confidence, addressing and servicing the debt, such that now, this year, we believe and we are confident that we’ve made those provisions. We’ve moved our budget from last year, and we’ve brought it into the current year. That has influenced what we have in front of us”.

Okoye informed that the SEDC has a comprehensive, ambitious development plan for the South-East, which included construction of railways across the five states of the South-East to enhance trade and investment to make the region a unified economic block through shared visions of all stakeholders.

“We have a vision to make the South-East a preferred investment hub in the next ten years. We will achieve this through industrialisation, agriculture and technology”, he added.