At th
e age of 30, Anambra State’s Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget, Mark Okoye emerged ‘Young Person of the Year’ at the prestigious The Future Awards Africa 2016. The award was presented to him at the 11th edition of the awards which took place at the Federal Palace Hotel & Casino in Victoria Island, Lagos and had as keynote speaker, president elect of Ghana Dr. Nana Akufo-Addo.
A graduate of the prestigious George Washington University, Washington, DC, Okoye has been touted as one of the primary forces responsible for resurgence of the Anambra state economy. With this feat, he has set an incredibly admirable example for other young people to take part in government. At the age of 30, Okoye became the youngest member of Governor Obiano’s cabinet and one of the youngest government officials in the country.
Previously, Mark Okoye was senior member of the investment banking division at Afrinvest (West Africa) Limited, where he was a key player on financial advisory transactions. It was these achievements that led ultimately to his appointment as Special Adviser to Governor Obiano on Economic Planning, Budget and Investments in 2015. He is also a Harvard Kennedy School and Euromoney, Dubai alumnus with experience in governance, policy formulation, public sector financing, public budget analysis and corporate finance.
In his role, 10,000 jobs have been created in Anambra state directly as a consequence of an inflow of investments into key sectors of the state’s economy in industries such as Agriculture, Trade & Commerce and Manufacturing. He was also nominated by the Vice President of Nigeria to serve as a Member & South East Geopolitical Zone Representative of the National Economic Council Retreat Implementation Monitoring Committee. Under his guidance, there was the successful kick off of Public-Private-Partnership projects in the Anambra State, some of which include Coscharis farms 100 million dollars, Lynden Poultry Farms 40 million dollars and Anambra Delfarms Ltd 60 million dollars.
Under his watch, there has also been an introduction of monthly performance reviews to monitor the State’s internally generated revenues (IGRs), monitoring statewide initiatives that led to the increase of IGRs from 600 million naira per month to approximately 1.3 billion naira per month in the space of 12 months.
Earlier on, he was reportedly adjudged too young for the role by the Anambra State House of Assembly, however, once he passed his 30th birthday, his appointment was approved and finalised by Governor Obiano.
Inland Town lauds the drive and achievements of Mark Okoye as we congratulate him on this prestigious recognition.
InlandTown! 2016.
