An Engine for Change in Africa: The Kosmos Innovation Center

With three major projects—Greater Tortue Ahmeyim, Jubilee Southeast and Winterfell—ramping up production in 2024, it’s easy to forget in such a transformational year that Kosmos Energy was once a start-up. Seizing an opportunity, pursuing a dream and growing a business are core elements of the company’s DNA and that entrepreneurial spirit is something that we work hard to maintain and love to encourage in others. There’s no better expression of that heritage than the recent launch of Door Entrepreneuriat (which means “Starting Entrepreneurship” in Wolof), the Kosmos Innovation Center (KIC) ’s new program in Saint Louis, Senegal.

At this exciting milestone, it’s valuable to take stock of the hard work, dedication and progress that built Kosmos Innovation Center into the engine for positive social and economic change it is today. When I look at the teams who are now engaged in the Kosmos Innovation Center programs across Ghana, Mauritania and Senegal, it seems incredible that it only started eight years ago. To celebrate that, I wanted to look at how and why the program has grown and explain why I think it embodies our goal of supporting the communities where we work and reflects our ethos as a company.

How It Started

In 2016, Kosmos Energy was seeking opportunities to nurture Ghana’s local economy outside of our longstanding operations in the offshore Tano Basin. Agriculture was the clear sector to focus on given that it accounts for more than half the nation’s GDP, over 40% of its export earnings, and is by far the largest employer. We wanted to support the country’s development goals by driving innovation and igniting the interest of young people in the sector. And so, the Kosmos Innovation Center was born, guided by a three-part philosophy:

• Inspire young people by connecting them with best-in-class mentorship and education, so they see themselves as entrepreneurs and can identify opportunities that others miss.
• Invest in the most promising entrepreneurs, start-ups and small businesses by providing a full life cycle of support featuring coaching, skills building, seed funding and more.
• Transform these concepts into successful businesses by leveraging our distinct focus on commercial solutions and local knowledge, so we can tackle the toughest challenges facing local industries.

Over the last eight years, the Kosmos Innovation Center in Ghana has expanded from one program offered in Accra to 10 programs touching every region of the country. In the process, the Kosmos Innovation Center in Ghana has trained more than 18,000 aspiring entrepreneurs, helped form or nurture dozens of start-ups and small businesses, and has invested or facilitated more than $1 million in seed funding. Those companies are now employing thousands of people across Ghana.

By 2021 the program had become so successful that Kosmos decided to transition the Kosmos Innovation Center in Ghana into a separate non-profit legal entity so that it could partner with other organizations, such as Mastercard Foundation , universities across the country, and other local and multinational companies to pursue its ambitious growth agenda. We saw the potential for expansion and determined that it could do more for the country as an independent non-profit with access to additional funding.

I have fond memories of attending the ribbon-cutting ceremony in 2019 that marked the opening of the Kosmos Innovation Center’s building in Accra. I had the opportunity to speak with the founders of some of the early start-ups like TROTRO Tractor , TechShelta , aiScarecrow Technologies and others. It’s one of my favorite moments from my time with Kosmos Energy. I was struck their energy and determination to succeed. Regardless of which country or sector, get entrepreneurs together and they recognize the appetite and invention in each other. It was fascinating to discuss their ideas, the challenges they face, and the potential of their businesses.

How It’s Going

Today, the Kosmos Innovation Center continues to foster the next generation of African entrepreneurs. Since the launch of Kosmos Innovation Center programs in Mauritania and Senegal in 2018, we have worked with similarly innovative businesses spanning multiple industries, including:

• FRAISEN which, with the help of Kosmos Innovation Center mentors and market research, convened a network of small-scale strawberry farmers throughout Senegal and provided them with the technology and systems to deliver fresh, organic strawberries to local consumers at affordable prices. Not only has FRAISEN been a boon to Senegal’s agricultural sector – being one of a handful of African nations that produce strawberries – but it has also reshaped regional perceptions of the fruit itself, which were previously regarded as an exclusive, luxury product.
• Tolbi , which is using artificial intelligence and geospatial technologies to help small famers in Senegal and beyond to improve production by monitoring crop health in real time and optimizing water and fertilizer use.
• Daadoo, which aims to clean up the streets of Mauritania’s capital of Nouakchott by using plastic waste to create bricks that are resilient to high heat and airborne salinity. With coaching and insights from the Kosmos Innovation Center in Mauritania, Daadoo is collaborating with local construction businesses to develop cheap, sustainable, quality materials that will pave the roads and line the buildings of Nouakchott.

These businesses—and the many others continuing to flourish with Kosmos Innovation Center support—embody the ethos of Kosmos Energy: prudent, innovative and rigorous investment that actively improves the material and economic conditions of nations that deserve fair and equitable treatment on a global stage.

Where We’re Headed

Fortunately, the efforts of the Kosmos Innovation Center show no signs of slowing down with its continuing focus on women and youth.

In 2023, the Kosmos Innovation Center in Mauritania developed Ra’idat, a two-month workshop for female entrepreneurs in which participants receive training on market research, price refinement, and business pitch development. Ra’idat was inspired by the success of the women’s bootcamp at increasing the participation of women entrepreneurs in the established Mauritania Innovation Challenge.

Last week’s launch of Door Entrepreneuriat in Saint Louis, Senegal aims to offers young people aged 18-35 a comprehensive training package, including workshops on the essentials of entrepreneurship and an ideas exchange session where participants can talk through their ideas and start to build those all-important business networks. This program specifically welcomes applications from women who are interested in starting their own businesses, regardless of previous experience or educational background. I’m attaching a video from the Kosmos Innovation Center in Senegal which marks the launch of the program and calls for applicants.

The Kosmos Innovation Center is an important part of what we do and our commitment to its work is steadfast. I encourage you to keep an eye out for the newest cohort of KIC-mentored alumni and future Senegalese business leaders. Their businesses—like Kosmos Energy—will be crucial in delivering sustained, positive growth across West Africa’s economies.

To learn more about the Kosmos Innovation Center and these programs, you can also visit:

• Kosmos Innovation Center Website
• Kosmos Innovation Center Ghana
• Kosmos Innovation Center (MR)
• Kosmos Innovation Center Senegal