35 through mobile device charging and better access to radio and television, and lead to greater productivity in economic activities. The Diawling National Park (PND) borders the Senegal River and municipality of Ndiago in southwest Mauritania. The 16000-hectare national park is characterized by a range of different habitats (pond, river, islands, estuary, and lakes) and is home to a wide diversity of flora and fauna. Diawling is part of a Trans-Border Biosphere Reserve that is a valuable avian breeding site due to the combination of saltwater and freshwater at the Senegal River delta. Kosmos supports the national park through skills training for park staff on park surveillance, monitoring of invasive species, and tourism management. We also provided new monitoring equipment, such as watchtowers, binoculars, GPS, and a drone, to improve capacity on park surveillance and research. Due to our cross-border offshore LNG project, we encouraged the Diawling National Park to work together with the Djoudj National Bird Park on the Senegal side of the river delta since the two national parks share similar geography, flora, and fauna, and thus have similar challenges and opportunities. Fisheries are a key income provider in the Ndiago region. Understandably, the local community strongly cares about the safety of its fishermen and their vessels, as well as the safety of those engaged in ancillary activities such as fish processing. Kosmos has previously provided safety gear and fish processing equipment to the Ndiago community to reduce health risks and improve working conditions, and in 2017 we decided to expand our program in Ndiago. The population of Ndiago has a majority of women due to the travel required by the men who fish offshore. The women of Ndiago are responsible for processing after the fish are brought ashore. Many of these women are part of co-ops to increase efficiency, share the costs of equipment and improve access to market for the fish products. Kosmos partnered with EcoDev, a local development NGO, to build the capacity of the Ndiago women’s fish processing co-ops. We provided a series of workshops for members of the cooperative on organization and management of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), entrepreneurship skills, and hygiene and safety. Through this training, the co-ops aim to increase their profits and develop more sustainable business practices. The hygiene and safety training was augmented by construction of a new fish drying and processing area to lessen environmental impacts and improve working conditions for the women. In addition to improvements to the physical work space, we provided the women with new equipment for fish processing and safe food handling. The project also established a fund owned by the women’s cooperatives to provide working capital for the purchase of fresh fish, processing costs, and access to markets for sales. EMBRACING INNOVATION IN MAURITANIA In 2017, Kosmos began planning the establishment of a Kosmos Innovation Center (KIC) in Mauritania to promote entrepreneurship among the country’s youth. We identified Mauritania as an excellent location for the KIC because young people comprise 20% of the population and are experiencing a 19% unemployment rate. Youth are key drivers of economic growth and social change in Mauritania, but currently face a lack of economic opportunities and jobs. Entrepreneurship is a key pathway to employment and economic empowerment for youth and can boost the overall Mauritanian economy as well. The ethos of the Kosmos Innovation Center is to offer sustainable opportunities for young people to create their own futures – not to give short-term handouts. We plan to offer a program for 50 Mauritanian youths to create start-up concepts in 2018. The start-up teams will participate in a business training curriculum and capacity-building program, learning from senior mentors and market research tours. They will ultimately compete in successive rounds of pitch competitions, with the winners receiving support to launch their businesses. KIC Mauritania will encourage collaboration and innovation among young entrepreneurs, investors, and business leaders in Mauritania. The mouth of the Senegal River is home to a multitude of birdlife, such as the sea birds pictured here offshore Mauritania.