Alex Okosi Joins YouTube As MD, Emerging Markets

YouTube has announced the hire of Alex Okosi as managing director of emerging markets for YouTube in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). Okosi will be responsible for running YouTube's business and partnership teams across emerging markets in EMEA, including Russia, the Middle East, North and sub-Saharan Africa.

Okosi will report to the head of YouTube EMEA Cécile Frot-Coutaz. Based in the London office, he will start in April. "YouTube is a game-changing platform that plays an increasingly important role in our lives today through the dynamic content and innovation that it delivers," says Okosi. "I am very excited to be joining Cecile's leadership team to continue empowering creators and elevating value for viewers and partners across the region."

"I look forward to welcoming Oksi to our YouTube EMEA leadership team," says Frot-Coutaz. "He brings a wealth of experience in the content industries and has a track record for building businesses and audiences in established and new markets."

"Alex will be leading our existing teams in Russia, sub-Saharan Africa, Turkey, the Middle East and North Africa to drive further expansion in these key markets," adds Frot-Coutaz.

Google and YouTube have been investing in growing its business across its EMEA emerging markets. Some recent milestones can be viewed below:

• Most recently at the annual Google for Nigeria event in July 2019, YouTube announced its commitment to support emerging talent across Nigeria by teaming up with Eazi and the emPawa initiative to support 10 emerging Nigerian music artists. Google helped them to build their craft, increase their fanbase and connect with the world through YouTube.
• Throughout the years, YouTube has played an essential role in the discovery and development of African sound, exporting African music to listeners worldwide. Seventy percent of the views from the 25 most-watched sub-Saharan African artists come from outside the continent.
• In September 2019, YouTube successfully launched YouTube Music and YouTube Premium in MENA, which further exemplifies the opportunities offered by the region.
• Russia is one of YouTube EMEA's highest growth markets in terms of the number of YouTube channels, with more than one million subscribers growing by more than 70% in the last year.

According to YouTube, Okosi's appointment aims to only further fuel the development of the creative ecosystem in the region. Prior to joining YouTube, Okosi served as a long-time TV executive. Most recently, he was executive vice president and managing director of Viacom/CBS Networks Africa and BET International.