Why Oketex is investing millions in Nollywood

R: Boss of Oketex, Amarachi with Ejike Asiegbu

With huge investments in the entertainment industries of South Africa and Zimbabwe respectively, where he has lived for almost two decades, Amarachi George Okeke, has finally come home to continue with his investments drive in the nation’s thriving entertainment scene.

In a recent chat with SHOWBIZPLUS, the youthful boss of Oketex Investments International, disclosed that he recently returned home to set up a multi-million Naira movie and music empires with the sole aim of discovering and empowering more youths as well as helping to raise the bar in the sector.

 The renowned businessman who was an ex rugby player and represented Nigeria at several international tournaments, disclosed that his passion for entertainment drove him into Nollywood.

“As a successful Nigerian living and running legitimate businesses in Zimbabwe and South Africa, I produced and sponsored an international movie with several Nollywood stars in 2009. Entitled: The Zimbabwe I Know, the movie starred some popular names in Nollywood whom I paid, flew and lodged in Zimbabwe for weeks. Among them were: Ejike Asiegbu, Uche Jombo, Ngozi Nkebaku and others.

The purpose of the movie was to assure people in other parts of the world that there is something good and great about this continent called Africa. We used the medium to market African countries and most especially the southern region as a tourist attraction. Lots of South Africans also featured in the movie. I was the first Nigerian to invite and host Patience Ozokwo, Aki and Pawpaw in Zimbabwe. I was also the first Nigerian to bring Akon and Sean Paul to Zimbabwe in collaboration with their country’s tourism authority.

I am very grateful to God for that. I am an entrepreneur. I have spent most of my life promoting entertainment in different countries including South Africa. At the moment, plans are in top gear to take the entertainment industry in Nigeria to another level. And this is my reason for coming home to invest heavily,” he asserted.

Expatiating more on his reasons for coming home to invest, Okeke, the current national treasurer of Zimbabwe Association of Recording Artistes, who also doubles at its founding member, had this to say.

“Gone are the days when we believed that the environment over there is more conducive than our home-Nigeria. We have lots of potentials in this country and my company and I are finally back to help spot, develop and empower these raw talents and also help the established ones consolidate. The whole essence is to create employment opportunities for our youths,” he posited.

Interestingly, for many years now, his company, Oketex has been supporting different entertainment events including pageantries in Zimbabwe and South Africa, a gesture he wants to continue in a bigger way here in Nigeria.

“Last year, we donated a brand new Mercedes Benz to one of the biggest beauty pageants in southern Africa, Miss Carnival Zimbabwe. We have been giving back to the communities outside this shore for a very long time. At the moment, we have decided to bring it down to this country so that Nigerians can also benefit and feel our generosity,” the Imo State-born entrepreneur explains with a smile.  

 Elated Okeke further disclosed that by the month of March 2014, his movie and music empires will be fully operational in Nigeria, with never-seen-before kind of sophisticated equipment that will further boost the industry immensely.

“We will be injecting millions into the entertainment industry in Nigeria, in fact, we have already started. We want to make sure our artistes are being taken good care of. We will be incorporating our foreign partners too.  We are looking at establishing a state of the art studio that can compete favourably anywhere in the world. We want to build a reputable and recognizable movie productions outfit and a leading record label. For me, entertainment has become a way of life. I believe it also reduces stress. I have passion for it because I’m a music and movie person hence the need to invest in my passion.”