A new entrepreneurial momentum is taking hold in Côte d’Ivoire.
On Tuesday, June 23, 2026, the Kaydan Foundation inaugurated the Entrepreneurship Club for mining, petroleum, and energy schools, offering students a comprehensive ecosystem of mentorship, practical workshops, innovation competitions, and field visits to propel their projects. This Kaydan Foundation initiative follows on from the 8th edition of the Entrepreneur Caravan, organized in November 2024 on the sidelines of the International Exhibition of Extractive and Energy Resources (SIREXE).
Alain Kouadio, President of the Kaydan Foundation, took advantage of the launch of this entrepreneurship club, in partnership with the employers’ association, the General Confederation of Enterprises of Côte d’Ivoire (CGECI), to explain the stakes of this new operational direction as a sectoral strategy to maximize entrepreneurial impact. Kouadio stated that while they are establishing entrepreneurship clubs in all universities, doing it on a university-by-university basis isn’t the most efficient approach, which is why they have decided to transition to a sector-by-sector method. This club aims to raise awareness, nurture, and structure student projects from the initial idea to its concrete realization, with the clear ambition of turning these young people into the future leaders of the Ivorian economy.
The specific focus on mining, oil, and energy directly reflects the “local content” policy advocated by the supervising ministry. This vision seeks to foster the emergence of national skills and businesses in industries traditionally dominated by international groups. On the sidelines of the ceremony, Alain Kouadio shared that this is the third entrepreneurship club they have established, with plans to add two more by the end of the year.
The club was sponsored by Koné Kamel, President of the Ivorian Oil and Gas Companies, who coincidentally announced a significant new oil discovery of national importance during the event on Monday night. Addressing the students, Kamel declared that they are instilling a mindset of those who have decided to take action, create, and undertake. He advised them not to consider the club an extracurricular activity or a hobby, but rather as a laboratory and a space from which innovative ideas for the future of the mining, oil, and energy sector will emerge. He pledged to help grow the club to over 200 members and prepare them to win every hackathon, delivering a resolutely optimistic message that encouraged the youth to be bold, ambitious, courageous, and unafraid of failure.
The initiative also benefits from strong institutional and private sector support. Awa Sarah Doumbia, representing the Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, noted that Côte d’Ivoire has 10 public universities and expressed her hope that these incubators would expand throughout the country, following the example of the clubs already active in Bondoukou with 60 members and Man with 80 members. From the private sector, the CGECI announced a strategic partnership with the Kaydan Foundation. Anastasie Kadja, head of the Entrepreneurship Department at the Ivorian Employers’ Association, explained that the CGECI, which had been initiating similar projects, chose to join forces with the foundation to work towards the common goal of building the champions of tomorrow. With this alliance between schools, the CGECI, and the Kaydan Foundation, Côte d’Ivoire is laying the groundwork for a robust ecosystem to enhance the value chain of its strategic resources.
AP/fss/abj/APA