We Inspire
We light a fire in young people… by training them to see opportunities that others miss, giving them the confidence to view themselves as entrepreneurs not employees and job creators instead of job seekers. We do it by delivering a best-in-class leadership and entrepreneurship program.
We Invest
We go all in … by providing a full life-cycle of support to the most promising entrepreneurs, start-ups, and small businesses. We do it through tailored coaching, skills building, expert mentorship, seed funding, and facilitating connections within and across industries.
We Transform
We go big … by positioning young entrepreneurs to tackle tough problems in key sectors and channeling their talent into innovative, private sector-led solutions. We do this through the Kosmos Innovation Center’s distinctive focus on commercial solutions and local knowledge.
Ghana
Established in 2016, Kosmos Innovation Center Ghana is helping to breathe new life into agriculture, transforming it into an engine of growth and job creation.
Mauritania
Launched in 2018, the Kosmos Innovation Center Mauritania is helping young, entrepreneurial Mauritanians develop the skills to turn ideas into reality.
Senegal
Kosmos Innovation Center Senegal is helping young business leaders in Senegal develop the technical skills needed to grow successful and sustainable businesses.
Kosmos Innovation Center
The Kosmos Innovation Center (KIC) invests in young entrepreneurs and small businesses who have big ideas and want to see their country grow.
At just 23 years old, Abdallah Ndiaye founded Acces Energie Solaire to eliminate the prohibitive fuel costs that force rural Senegalese farmers to abandon fertile land. By designing and installing customized, autonomous solar water pumping systems across multiple agricultural regions, Ndiaye replaces expensive and unreliable diesel generators with clean, cost-effective energy that restores financial autonomy to local producers.
Through the Kosmos Innovation Center programme, he transitioned his technical expertise into a structured, award-winning business model, proving the viability of the technology by demonstrating immediate improvements in crop yields and operating costs. With a long-term vision to establish a local assembly operation for solar equipment, Ndiaye is transforming rural agricultural productivity and proving that sustainable innovation can thrive outside major urban centers.
Read the story here: kosmosinnovationcenter.com/acces-energie-solaire/
Michelle Doucoure founded Bichri Cuisine to prove that traditional African food can be both a joyous celebration of flavour and a powerful tool for health. Driven by her own family’s experiences with diabetes and hypertension, the 31-year-old chef graduated from selling street food in 2018 to creating a refined culinary concept in Saint-Louis, Senegal, that reimagines classic recipes for people with strict dietary needs.
Refined through rigorous customer feedback and structured by the Kosmos Innovation Center programme, her business model delivers balanced, responsible meals that restore dignity and flavor to individuals managing chronic illness, paving the way for a planned expansion across Senegal.
Read more here kosmosinnovationcenter.com/bichri-cuisine/
Friday FAQ: What Is World Environment Day and Why Should Small Businesses Care?
Every June 5, the world marks #WorldenvironmentDay. It's a day focused on pollution, waste, and climate change. But for small business owners, there's a more practical side to it that often gets missed.
Business costs and the environment are more connected than most people think.
When a food vendor stops buying single-use plastic, they spend less over time. When a small manufacturer pays attention to energy use, the monthly bill drops. When a delivery service plans its routes instead of winging it, it burns less fuel. These aren't big sacrifices. They're just smarter choices that happen to help both the planet and the business.
That's what World Environment Day is really getting at. Being sustainable, at the small business level is much simpler. It just means noticing where money is quietly slipping out and fixing it.
Small changes add up. Going digital with receipts, reusing packaging, cutting unnecessary waste. None of it will transform a business overnight, but over time it makes things run leaner.
The businesses that catch on to this early don't do it to make a statement. They do it because wasting less and spending less tend to go hand in hand.
So the question worth asking isn't really whether the environment matters to your business. It's whether you've been paying attention to the spots where it already does.