Alex Okosi
Managing Director, Emerging Markets EMEA | YouTube
Alex Okosi is Managing Director of YouTube Emerging Markets in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). A mission-driven leader with over 25-years experience across the media, entertainment and technology industries, he is responsible for driving the platform’s growth and partnerships with creators, partners and media companies across key verticals such as music, gaming, TV, film, kids, news and sports in Russia, Africa, the Middle East and Turkey.
Okosi joined YouTube in 2020 and has been instrumental in building an EMEA Emerging Markets cluster that is prolific in unearthing ground-breaking creators and content that entertain, educate and empower viewers. The company has experienced exponential growth under his leadership, and he has overseen the successful roll-out of the YouTube Shorts feature and the YouTube Kids app in the EMEA Emerging Markets. Okosi collaborates with Idris Elba in executive producing the yearly Africa Day Concert, which connects African artists and creators to viewers around the world.
A champion of initiatives that promote diversity, equity and inclusion, Okosi played a key role in landing YouTube’s $100M multi-year Black Voices Fund in EMEA – a campaign dedicated to spotlighting and growing black creators and music artists on the platform. He is also an executive member of the Google and YouTube committees that drive and deliver the brands’ racial equity commitments across the EMEA region.
Before joining YouTube, Okosi was the Executive Vice President and Managing Director of ViacomCBS (now Paramount) Networks Africa and BET International (Europe, Asia and Africa). He developed the plan for the conglomerate’s entry into Africa, growing it to a portfolio of 10 channels that reach over 100 million viewers via entertainment brands such as MTV, MTV Base, Comedy Central, BET, MTV Base, and Nickelodeon. Okosi launched several impactful initiatives at Paramount such as the MTV Africa Music Awards, MTV Shuga, BET Experience Africa and the Nickelodeon Financial Literacy Campaign. He also helmed the company’s international events division before his move to YouTube.
Born in Nigeria and educated in the US, Okosi graduated magna cum laude with a dual major in Business Administration and Economics from St Michael’s College in Vermont. The World Economic Forum recognized him as a Young Global Leader in 2013, and he is an honorary Fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Marketing of Nigeria. Okosi was included in the Powerlist 100 as one of the UK’s most influential black people in 2022 and 2023.