The Southeast Venture Capital Program is floating N70 billion for builders in the eastern region, building in ten selected tech categories.
Despite the Southeast Development Commission (SEDC), led by Mark Okoye, being the program’s initiator. The program is also midwived by an advisory committee made up of a team of professionals.
The advisory committee consists of professionals from various walks of life, bringing their knowledge and expertise to ensure the smooth running of the program. They are as follows
Patrick Okigbo III
Patrick Okigbo is currently the founder and principal partner of Nextier Advisory. He sits on the Advisory Committee of the Southeast Venture Capital Program.
Experience
- Special Assistant to the President of Nigeria on Power.
- Chief Financial Officer, Transcorp PLC
- Vice President, Citigroup ( New York and Washington DC)
- Consultant Accenture
Somachi Chris-Asoluka
Somachi is the only female on the advisory committee, an indication of her resourcefulness. She is the CEO of the Tony Elumelu Foundation, which empowers African entrepreneurs with seed funding.
Experience
- CEO Tony Elumelu Foundation
- Director of Partnerships and Communications, Tony Elumelu Foundation
Innocent Isichie
Innocent Isichie is currently the managing partner of ACIOE Associates. He sits on the Advisory Committee alongside others.
Experience
- Senior Policy Advisor, Paystack
- Head of Policy, Paystack
- Assistant Director, Central Bank of Nigeria
- Governmental Programs Executive IBM
- Associate, the Corporate Council of Africa
Arinze Chilo-Offiah
Arinze is currently a special adviser to the Enugu state government. He is an experienced administrator with many years of public-sector experience.
Experience
- Director General of Enugu SME Centre, Enugu State Government.
- Pioneer Executive Director, Anambra Small Business Agency (ASBA)
- General Manager, Anambra State Investment Promotion and Protection Agency. (ANSIPPA)
- Senior Special Assistant on Agricultural Investments
- Associate at Afrinvest (West Africa ) Limited
- Experience at Vetiva Capital Management Limited, American Insurance Group, Bank of America, and Merrill Lynch.
Emeka Afigbo
Emeka is a senior developer and director at Okta, sitting on the advisory board. His work experience includes Big Tech firms like Facebook, Google, and Okta.
Experience
- Senior Director, Developer Success, Workforce Identity, Cloud Okta
- Manager, Developer Programs, Facebook
- Head Strategic Product Partnerships, Africa and Middle East, Facebook
- Program manager, Developer Relations, Sub-Saharan Africa, Google
- Program manager, Emerging Markets Outreach
John Onuigbo
John is a founder and builder who runs Foris Labs. His entrepreneurial experience will come in handy in vetting the applicants for the program.
Experience
- Co-founder and CEO Forris Labs
- Co-founder Stemnovong
- Collaboration with UHF, the US Department of State, and World Connect.
Registrations for the Southeast Venture Capital Program are currently ongoing and will end early April.
