Empowering Innovation: How KIC is supporting young Entrepreneurs

The African youth is not relenting in the quest to secure a future through innovation. Across the continent, young people are taking charge of their lives, and by extension, the economies of their countries, through entrepreneurial ventures.

The 2023-2024 Global Entrepreneurship Monitor Report reveals that sub-Saharan Africa boasts some of the highest rates of entrepreneurial activity globally, with about 22% of the working-age population starting new businesses and 42% of young people aged 18–34 planning to start a business within the next three years.

From mobile-first solutions to agrifood and digital ventures, African youth are driving entrepreneurship across diverse sectors. They are leveraging technology to expand access to financial services, e-commerce, and healthcare, while also reimagining agriculture through climate-smart farming, mechanization, and digital platforms that connect farmers to markets. At the same time, young entrepreneurs are carving out space in the digital economy, launching startups in fintech, edtech, and creative media that not only create jobs but also position Africa as a global hub of innovation. These ventures highlight the ingenuity and adaptability of young Africans in addressing local challenges while tapping into global opportunities.

This wave of innovation presents youth enterprise development organizations, not-for-profit institutions, and policymakers with a unique opportunity. By channeling resources into youth-led innovation, these stakeholders can strengthen entrepreneurial ecosystems and unlock scalable solutions to pressing challenges such as food security, unemployment, and climate change. The role of dedicated support institutions is therefore critical, as they bridge the gap between youthful creativity and the resources required to turn ideas into sustainable businesses.

One such organisation is the Kosmos Innovation Center (KIC), which has long been at the forefront of this transformation. KIC equips young innovators with training, funding, and mentorship to build businesses that feed communities, create jobs, and attract investment. Through its partnership with the Mastercard Foundation under the Initiative for Youth in Agricultural Transformation, KIC is supporting many young people across the 16 regions of Ghana access dignified and fulfilled jobs through entrepreneurial pathways. Participants gain not only technical know-how but also market access and networking opportunities that are often out of reach for young entrepreneurs.

KIC has nurtured over 1,000 AgTech start-up solutions, launched over 250 AgTech Start-ups.Entrepreneurship innovations range from production, farm management technologies, to harvesting, post-harvest processes, marketing and distribution and value addition. These Start-ups include Complete Farmer, Agro Innova, Grow For Me, Agro Cold, Maku Foods, Ghana Fert, Kodu Technologies, Kigo Agro, Delimush, Agro Empire among others.

For example, Deecom Nutrifoods Limited, a KIC-supported startup driving innovation in Ghana’s food system. The company provides a direct market for soybean farmers while transforming locally grown crops into alternative protein sources for consumers seeking healthy, plant-based options. Deecom joined the KIC AgriTech Challenge Pro program in 2023 and later entered its business accelerator program in 2024, receiving USD 20,000 in seed funding support from KIC in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation.

These businesses illustrate how young agripreneurs are addressing multiple challenges simultaneously: creating jobs, combating climate change, and making agriculture more profitable. The common thread is that they are solutions-driven, market-orientated, and committed to sustainability.

Yet, even amid these successes, challenges persist. Many young entrepreneurs still face limited access to affordable financing, difficulty meeting regulatory requirements, and inadequate infrastructure in rural areas. In this regard, KIC continues to advocate for policy reforms, increased investment, and targeted support for youth-led agribusinesses.

For Benjamin Kesse, Executive Director for Kosmos Innovation Center, it is important to support young people across the continent to transform our economies. He states: “Young people across Africa are brimming with ideas that can transform our economies, but ideas alone are not enough. When innovation meets the right support, through training, funding, and mentorship, we see youth turn challenges into opportunities, farms into fortunes, and ideas into thriving enterprises. That is the future we must continue to nurture.”

The future of Ghana’s economy lies in the hands of its young innovators. With the right support, they can turn farms into fortunes and ideas into industries. The seeds of innovation have already been planted, and now is the time to nurture them so they grow into enterprises that will sustain generations to come.