The South East Development Commission (SEDC) is calling on all stakeholders to contribute positively at a stakeholders’ forum to be held at the International Conference Centre, Enugu, next month.
The forum, themed “Charting a shared path to sustainable prosperity for South East Nigeria,” is a three-day program from 3rd February to 6th February. Stakeholders are urged to bring workable ideas to the forum to facilitate sustainable prosperity for the South East region.
The three-day SEDC stakeholders Forum program will be held daily from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm, with in-house and town hall sessions, giving all stakeholders an opportunity to share their ideas.
The SEDC, established on July 24th, 2024, is tasked with bringing the South East region up to par with other regions in the country following the devastating Civil war, which set the region back.
However, since its inception, the SEDC has appeared stuck in an ideation stage, developing ideas for the commission with little implementation. The SEDC has made giant strides, however, in at least drawing up a framework for the region’s prosperity going forward.
- Physical Structure: Following the board’s inauguration in February 2025, the SEDC established its headquarters in Enugu and developed a 10-year Integrated Regional Development Roadmap in partnership with the UNDP.
- Investment Portfolio: The commission launched the South East Investment Company (SEIC) with a target asset base of $1 billion, aiming to scale regional GDP from $40 billion to $200 billion by 2035.
- Venture & Human Capital: To curb the “brain drain,” the SEDC established a $50 million South East Venture Capital Fund to support local startups and introduced the M.I. Okpara Fellowship to nurture regional leadership.
- Infrastructure & Ecology: Significant progress has been made in conceptualizing regional rail corridors and addressing the region’s 2,500+ active erosion sites.
Implementation still remains a big ask, as the region is not new to projected charades promising prosperity that amount to nothing.
