The Kosmos Innovation Center (KIC) has inaugurated an office and incubation hub in Tamale to expand agribusiness services and targeted policy initiatives to improve local economic governance.
The KIC set up the office with support from the Ghana Market Systems and Resilience (MSR) Activity, a USAID-funded programme under the Feed the Future Initiative.
The office, located at Kanvili in the Sagnarigu Municipality, is an apartment with offices, washrooms, kitchenette and a conference hall.
Mr Joe Mensah, Board Chairman of KIC, speaking at the inauguration ceremony said KIC seeks to give distinct attention to agriculture, and poised to invest appropriately in the sector to promote food security. Mr Mensah said Northern Ghana is a location to scale up agricultural investments to create employment for the youth, and called on community leaders to support the initiative.
He said, “The KIC, after exploring oil, seeks to explore more sectors, in partnership with stakeholders to engage more females as well as the youth.”
Mr Benjamin Gyan-Kesse, Executive Director of KIC, said the centre is committed to transforming the agriculture value chain by equipping the youth with ready market skills that would empower them economically to contribute to community development.
He stated that the MSR Activity, which seeks to ensure more resilient markets within the agricultural sector, led to the setup of the incubation hub to reach young entrepreneurs within 17 districts across four regions in the north.
The conference hall of the newly inaugurated office was named after its Board Chair, Mr Joe Mensah, in recognition of his contribution to the organisation.
As part of the inaugural activities, staff members of KIC visited business start-up centres in the region.
Alhaji Shani Alhassan Saibu, Northern Regional Minister, lauded the initiatives of the KIC in the agricultural sector, women empowerment and capacity building spaces.
He said the inaugurated office would deepen KIC’s partnership with key stakeholders and provide entrepreneurial skills to enhance the government development policies.
He urged the youth to seize the opportunity by venturing into agribusiness to become economically viable.
