Mauritania—Kosmos Innovation Center (KIC)

The Kosmos Innovation Center (KIC) invests in young entrepreneurs and small businesses who have big ideas and want to see their country grow. Since 2016, DAI’s Sustainable Business Group provided support to the KIC, which got its start in Ghana and expanded its work to Mauritania in 2018. In Mauritania, this program is helping young, entrepreneurial Mauritanians develop their business skills and potential, encouraging and challenging them to turn ideas for new products and services into reality. More than 30 young entrepreneurs are selected to participate each year in the Mauritania Innovation Challenge. The business development program provides early-stage startups with the opportunity to develop the confidence and skills they need to succeed. Aimed at young entrepreneurs and small business leaders, the challenge takes participants on a journey to develop a market-ready product or service, with a final competition for seed funding at the end. KIC’s Mauritanian startups built a wide range of solutions across various sectors, from waste recycling to healthcare.