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Alex Okosi is a Nigerian-born cable television executive who is blazing trails on the African continent. His mission – to develop content that transcends entertainment, but is smart, relevant, and empowers youth across Africa to become visionaries, confident leaders, and tomorrow’s change-makers. He successfully launched MTV base Africa on February 22, 2005 and has taken the upstart media concerns to neck-craning heights.

Following the company’s global re-branding, Okosi became the Senior Vice President & Managing Director of Viacom International Media Networks Africa in June 2012. Okosi is responsible for managing the growth and development of Viacom’s African multichannel portfolio, which spans fifty (50) countries in sub-Saharan Africa and now, reaches over 100 million viewers. He is the creative force in the conception of the MTV African Music Awards (MAMA), a high-profile event that’s helped talented African artists to raise their international profile. The inaugural event was held in Abuja, Nigeria in 2008.

EARLY LIFE
Alex Okosi was born in the predominantly rural and agrarian eastern Nigerian state of Enugu in the small village of Onitsha. The youngest of seven children (2 sisters and 4 brothers), his father was a civil servant who modeled persistence and a strong work ethic for Alex - character traits that continue to serve him professionally. By 12, three of his elder brothers made the leap from rural Nigeria to the U.S to “seek their fortunes.” As Alex and his parents prepared to visit relatives in South Florida in the early ‘90s, his brother, Emeka, encouraged him not to return to their village, but to remain in the United States – it was, after all, the “Land of Opportunity.” It would be fourteen years before Alex would lay eyes on him again.

CNN: The man who brought MTV to Africa

Phillips Exeter Academy
Growing up in the States, Okosi, rotated between his siblings, attending a myriad of schools in Florida, Nebraska, Missouri, and upstate New York. One of his basketball coaches in Rochester, New York, arranged for Alex to interview at one of the most respected boarding schools in America, Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, New Hampshire. This event would set events into motion that would change Okosi’s life-trajectory – forever! As the Fates would have it, the young boy from Enugu village was accepted and soon found himself developing relationships with many who would play positive roles in his social and professional development. Often calling it “the hardest month of my life,” Okosi, relying on his will to succeed and persist eventually graduated with high honors in 1994. He credits his mentor, Midge Monte, for shaping his character and showing him the value of working hard to achieve your goals.

“Midge was such an important an influential part of my life as she served as my guardian the last two years of my high school career and has since remained a huge part of my life,” says Okosi. “Midge also instilled in me the importance of hard work and commitment as one strives to be successful.”

St. Michael’s College
Alex Okosi attended St. Michael’s College, a private, residential liberal arts Catholic college located in Colchester, Vermont. He graduated summa cum laud in 1998 with a degree in economics. He played basketball for the Purple Knights, a Division II program, for all four years he attended the college.

UCLA
Okosi was an MBA candidate at UCLA before taking a leave of absence to move to London where he would leverage an opportunity to build out his strategy for launching MTV base Africa in 2003.

New York
After graduation, Okosi leveraged every connection he could conjure, including many from St. Michael’s. He doggedly pursued freelance work at MTV. After making five pilgrimages to the media giant’s headquarters in New York, his networking finally paid dividends and he eventually landed a position on the Sponsorship Development & Integrated Marketing team. Here he gained experience developing multi-platform marketing opportunities for advertisers and successfully integrating brands into marquee MTV franchises such as the Video Music Awards, Spring Break, Movie Awards, and Wanna Be a VJ.

Los Angeles
Okosi eventually sought opportunities to grow within the organization. He interviewed for a position in Los Angeles and was hired by MTV’s Affiliate Sales & Marketing division where he was responsible for developing, distributing, and marketing twenty-one (21) MTV Networks brands including MTV, Nickelodeon, VH1, CMT, MTV2, and Spike TV. One of his major accomplishments during his tenure with the division included the transformation of a niche, ‘alternative’ music channel, MTV2, into a core brand with broad appeal and distribution in the US market.

It was in 2002 Okosi found an ally and mentor in Thomas Freston, a St. Michael’s alum, who introduced him to Bill Roedy, MTV’s international chief. Okosi began an e-mail campaign to “sell” Roedy on the untapped potential of an African marketplace primed for the likes of MTV and its varied programming. Roedy was receptive and corresponded regularly with Okosi. By mid-2003, he had transferred to London as a key member of MTV Networks International’s Strategy and Business Development team, reporting directly to Roedy. It was here they crafted an innovative strategy for penetrating African media markets and layed the groundwork for what may, one day, come to be known as the most successful media foray into sub-Saharan Africa.

MTV BASE AFRICA
By 2005, the planning was complete and Okosi was ready to take on the unique challenges presented by the African continent. With “a little help” from his mentors and MTVNI team members in London he spearheaded MTV’s ambitious goal of establishing a strong media presence in Africa with the launch of MTV base Africa - MTV’s first localized television service wholly focused on sub-Saharan Africa - and MTV’s 100th channel worldwide.

The channel targets African youth and features the continent’s broadest mix of contemporary artists and music genres. It combines African and international music genres relevant to young African viewers including R’n’B, dancehall, hip-hop, kwaito, hip life, reggae, zouk, m’balax and Afrobeat, celebrating the cultural vibrancy and creativity of African music and artists. Three years after launching MTV base, as the service is commonly referred, Okosi launched Nickelodeon Africa, a 24-hour Nickelodeon service for Africa’s children and youth. His research and development teams continue to develop Viacom International Media Network’s (VIMN) music and youth-driven entertainment brands across the region on multiple media platforms. The pan-African network has grown exponentially since 2005, reaching in excess of 100 million viewers across Africa via a combination of satellite (pay-TV) on DStv and GTV (pan-Africa) and on terrestrial television on partner stations in major African markets that include TV3 (Ghana), NTV (Kenya), Silverbird TV (Nigeria), Hi TV (Nigeria) and NTV (Uganda), DVBH, IPTV, and online.

MTV base continues to enjoy great commercial success, which has attracted growing advertising and sponsorship revenues from major brand marketers that seek to increase market share in the African youth demographic. These include very well-known international brands such as Sony Ericsson Coca-Cola, Airtel, Nokia, Guinness Fanta, Motorola, Shell, Renault, and MTN Group. Okosi’s “make-it-happen” leadership style has catapulted VIMN Africa to the “next level” making the concern a regional powerhouse.

PROMOTING AFRICAN ENTERTAINMENT
Since launching MTV base in 2005,  Alex Okosi has grafted the championing of African music, kids and youth culture, and the creation of innovative programming into his business model. MTV base’s events and initiatives allow African kids and youth to shine. Like a geneticist in his Johannesburg-based laboratory, Okosi has spliced this “genetic material” into the way he and his team interact with their constituents to meet relevant needs of Africa’s youth and those who create music for them. It is this synergy, the symbiotic relationships he has cultivated over the years that have advertisers and sponsors clamoring. MTV Base’s success is rooted in its DNA - a cogent business model that makes cultural relevance, symbiotic partnerships, and real-time responsiveness to consumer needs… high priorities.

Okosi and his team implement an unconventional strategy designed to help musicians create quality music videos that enhance their image and better highlight their creativity. Shell bought into his vision and partnered to launch “Making the Video,” recruited the best music video directors from the USA and UK to conduct skills development “bootcamps,” to enhance the technical capacity and virtuosity of their African peers. This initiative, in tandem with Okosi’s magnum opus, the MTV Africa Music Awards, has raised the profile and earning power of contemporary African musicians. Many have made their way to concert stages around the world because of the exposure they garnered due to MTV base’s international reach and credibility as a burgeoning media powerhouse.

MAMA (MTV Africa Music Awards)
Inspired by Alex Okosi, the MTV Africa Music Awards (MAMAs) were first hosted at the Velodrome in Abuja, Nigeria in 2008. The show was broadcast in partnership with Airtel and local television stations across Africa. It was hosted by London-based DJ and BBC presenter, Trevor Nelson.

Leading up to the show, concerts were held in Johannesburg, Nairobi, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Lagos, Nigeria. MAMA is a cavalcade of Africa’s hottest musical commodities that salutes and celebrates contemporary African music and its artists from around the world. The Award categories included Artist of the Year, Best Alternative, Best Female, Best Group, Best Hip-Hop, Best Live Performance, Best Male, Best New Act, Best R&B, Video of the Year, and the MY Video Award which allows viewers to make their own version of a music video. That first year, Artist of the Year was awarded to Nigerian singer-songwriter, D’Banj.

The MTV Africa Music Awards in October 2009, were hosted at the Moi International Sports Center in Nairobi, Kenya. International superstar, Wyclef Jean, of Fugees fame, was the host. For the second year in a row, Artist of the Year honors went to D’Banj. In its final year, the 2010 MAMA was showcased in Lagos, Nigeria in December at Eko Expo Hall. New award categories were introduced to better reflect the musical diversity to be found on the African continent. They included awards for Best Anglophone, Best Lusophone and Best Francophone artists. American Grammy Award-winning rapper-songwriter, record producer and actress, Eve, hosted the ceremony. Artist of the Year honors were presented to Nigeria’s 2Face.

Shuga
Okosi champions pro-social campaigns that are recognized to positively impact young Africans and their lives. An initiative he holds dear is Shuga – a groundbreaking 360 degree mass media campaign for young people that merges sexual health messaging, including HIV prevention, with popular culture, and gripping story lines. John Hopkins University evaluated the impact this campaign had on its viewing audience and found a full ninety (90) percent of young Kenyans who watched the series believed the show had an impact on their thinking related to HIV.

Uncensored
Okosi’s drive to empower African youth by leveraging MTV Base’s reach and influence is fueled by the following adage, “relevant, quality entertainment programming buys credibility for higher pursuits.” MTV base has embarked upon a calculated effort to educate and empower Africa’s youth by providing information that can make the difference in a young person’s life who may lack practical guidance, motivation, or meaningful, positive role models. Uncensored, an MTV base Africa series, features African youth discussing difficult subjects that many confront throughout Africa. A given show may focus on incest, sexual health, or other taboo topics. E-mail and cell phone text messages are submitted by viewers, and in the past, major artists have participated with Uganda’s Navio discussing puberty, Vee from Botswana touched on rape, and Nigeria’s Weird MC discussed the media’s skewed portrayal of men and women.

MTV base Meets
To produce MTV base Meets, Okosi and his team make the rounds, so to speak, to solicit the insights and wisdom of many of today’s, international movers-and-shakers. They’ve created a forum where their guests can speak candidly and directly to African youth in hopes they will learn from these achievers’ experiences. Interviewees have included former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Sir Richard Branson of Virgin Group, and Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf.

Choose or Lose
MTV base rolled out a series of initiatives designed to inspire and galvanize the continent’s youth population. This youth voter mobilization campaign, “Choose or Lose,” was deployed by the channel in advance of the 2011 Nigerian elections to prompt the country’s young population to participate in their nation’s democratic processes so that their collective voices are heard by legislators and political leaders at all levels of government. Choose or Lose, with Okosi at the helm, is helping to shape African consciousness, foster democratic impulses, and serving as a catalyst, a much-needed impetus for young Africans Youth become politically engaged and active.

Financial Literacy
Banks are eyeing MTV base as a means to educate young Africans about the basics of credit, and banking, in general. Why? Kids are listening to the messages coming from the hallowed halls of Okosi’s brainchild. Through the Nickelodeon brand, Okosi and his MTV base team have partnered with Access Bank and schools in Nigeria to provide early, financial literacy courses to Nigerian children in hopes they will become savvy, personal financiers – avoiding the pitfalls many without such training may find themselves.

Okosi’s talented, pan-African crew have had their hands on the pulse of the new, African youth from day one and have successfully built a fortress of credibility around their energizing brands. Advertisers, sponsors, and youth, alike, are finding their way to “the base!”