36 radar scanner systems that would pick up another marine vessel in the area even if the vessel did not have signal/communication systems on board. Further, the support vessels established a navigation routing plan from the shore base to the rig that minimized risks of interference with populated fishing areas. We recruited Fisheries Liaison Officers from the area to engage with local artisanal fishermen to ensure their vessels were in compliance with safety measures. While it was true that negative impacts to marine fauna could have occurred from routine operations, the magnitude and extent of these impacts were almost uniformly negligible or low, and very localized. Implementation of proposed mitigation measures further reduced the potential for environmental impacts. In the end, drilling operations proceeded without incident. During the ESIA consultations, community members regularly inquired about benefits to the local population and job creation. Exploration drilling creates little immediate benefit, and this was explained during the consultation meetings. In the event of exploration success, Kosmos works with the government to determine ways that benefits can flow to local people. However, even during the exploration phase, Kosmos is committed to creating economic opportunity both through its core business and its social investment programs. We are committed to optimizing the participation of capable local suppliers so as to increase the linkages between Kosmos’ business and the Senegalese economy. Further, Kosmos has developed a social investment plan that takes into consideration local needs and development priorities. Throughout the ESIA process, we engaged a range of stakeholders in order to gain support for the drilling project. The ESIA team spent considerable time building relationships with key regulators, agencies, ministries, and coastal fishing communities. Each of these constituencies participated in the ESIA process (through consultations, reviews of materials, or facilitating meetings) and ultimately supported the outcome and Kosmos’ plan of activities. The results of the ESIA have been incorporated into a comprehensive Environmental and Social Management Plan for Kosmos’ drilling operations in Senegal. Comprehensive impact assessment prior to exploration drilling is a crucial step for Kosmos everywhere we operate, and we continue to learn and improve our processes with each ESIA we conduct. Transparency As part of our commitment to transparency and good governance wherever we operate, Kosmos continues to engage with a range of stakeholders in Senegal on issues of transparency in the oil and gas sector. Kosmos developed and sponsored a workshop on the oil and gas industry and transparency in partnership with the Senegal EITI Committee. We brought independent international experts to Dakar to present at the workshop, and attendees included civil society, parliamentarians, and industry representatives. In addition to meeting regularly with civil society, a Kosmos representative was invited to be the keynote speaker at the Regional Parliamentary Network for Good Governance of Resources, an event held in Dakar which included members of parliament and civil society from Senegal, Mauritania, Burkina Faso, and Guinea Bissau. Kosmos also hosted a workshop in Dakar for editors and journalists from TV, radio, newspapers, and websites to deepen their knowledge and understanding of the oil and gas sector. At various times during 2016, Kosmos corresponded with stakeholders in Senegal who had questions about how we acquired our licenses to explore offshore Senegal, the nature of the transaction involved, and our future plans. In keeping with our commitment to transparency, we published the exchange of letters on our website: www. kosmosenergy.com/responsibility/ correspondence-with-stakeholders. php. POSITIVE IMPACTS Supporting capacity building initiatives in Senegal is one way that Kosmos aims to make a contribution to the country. We have committed to support the government in the creation of the National Institute for Petroleum and Gas to provide higher education and training to develop the leaders, managers and operators of the country’s new petroleum industry. We have also focused our early social investments on enhancing the capability of the national oil company through training and the donation of powerful new workstations that can analyze complex seismic and drilling data. “In its approach to transparency in Senegal, Kosmos has established a program of capacity building for civil society, to allow civil society organisations to play more fully their role of observers and advocates around the oil and gas sector. It is within this framework that I was able to attend a summer school on extractive industries governance at the Centre of Excellence for the Governance of the Extractive Industry in Francophone Africa in Cameroon in August 2016, taught by the Natural Resource Governance Institute. The training allowed me to learn about all aspects of the extractives industries and to improve the quality of my analysis and interventions around the oil and gas sector.” PAPA SALIOU SAMBOU Comité Sénégalais des Droits de l’Homme