After several years of promoting and investing in the Zimbabwean and South African showbiz sectors, Amarachi George Okeke, has finally come home to continue with his investment drive in the nation’s thriving entertainment scene. The youthful boss of Oketex International recently returned home to set up a multi-million naira movie and music empire with the sole aim of discovering and empowering more youths as well as helping to raise the bar in the sector. The businessman who is an ex rugby player and even 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. Among them were Ejike Asiegbu, Uche Jombo, Patience Ozokwor, 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. Lots of South Africans also featured in the movie. I was the first Nigerian to invite and host Patience Ozokwor, 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 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, because we are ready to change the face of Nollywood. And this is my reason for coming home to invest heavily”. Expatiating more on his reasons for coming home to invest, Okeke, the current national treasurer of Zimbabwe Association of Recording Artistes, had this to say: “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”. Interestingly, for many years now, his company, Oketex has been supporting different entertainment events, including pageants in Zimbabwe and South Africa. A gesture he wants to continue in a bigger way 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 these shores 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 added with a smile. He further disclosed that by April, his production company will be hitting locations for a collaborative big-budget movie involving Nigerian and South African stars. The movie, starring Ejike Asiegbu, Patience Ozokwor and a host of others, is entitled All I have. “We are shooting this movie with never-seen-before sophisticated equipment that will further boost the industry. 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 production outfit and a leading record label. For me, entertainment has become a way of life.”