Genser launched its operations by supplying electricity directly to Ghana’s industrial sector. It started with the country’s gold mines after two Genser interns—Chen-rei Wan, SM ’07, PhD ’11, and Stephanie Dalquist ’02, MEng ’03, SM ’05—conducted a comprehensive review of all Ghanaian industries and determined that the mines’ high, consistent electricity demands, limited access to reliable power, and urgent operational needs made them highly motivated and well-resourced early adopters. “At that time, Pablo in Latin America was focused mainly on oil and gas and textile industries,” says Asiamah-Adjei. “But we took a very different turn.”
Of the eight power plants it has built—seven in Ghana and one in Burkina Faso—three have powered gold mines exclusively and others have also supplied power to the grid and to Côte d’Ivoire. With five still operating under its control, Genser has the ability to generate over 200 megawatts of electricity and plays a leading role in supplying power to West African industry.
In addition to helping Genser target its first customers, Dalquist also introduced Asiamah-Adjei to Frances Rogoz ’07, an economics major drawn to development work after taking a D-Lab class at MIT. Rogoz soon joined Genser as its first full-time hire and has been with the company ever since.
Rogoz started when the company was operating out of an office fashioned from a shipping container. She helped shape Genser’s growth by developing financial models, advising on contracts, and playing a key role in leading major infrastructure projects—most notably a natural-gas pipeline across western Ghana that has become vital. Today she serves as VP of project development, leading a team of 10 and overseeing West African strategic initiatives. “The natural-gas pipeline has been super transformative for us,” she says. “It has allowed us to really invest in infrastructure not only that we can use, but that the whole country can use.” Genser is now Ghana’s largest owner of gas pipelines and its only private one, operating four that total 430 kilometers.
Genser’s growth has not come without controversy. In 2022, a coalition of Ghanaian civil society organizations charged that the company was receiving preferential treatment on gas tariffs and bypassing regulatory procedures. Asiamah-Adjei says these claims were “misinformed,” and ultimately they were dismissed by the Ghanaian parliament after an intense, months-long investigation. He believes the attacks reflected public suspicion of private infrastructure development rather than distrust of Genser’s operations and says that, ironically, they solidified the company’s standing: “Prior to this, everybody thought our pipelines belong to the government, because nobody builds these things in Africa.”
While transporting fossil fuels is never a clean process, Genser conducted environmental and social impact assessments to guide sustainable pipeline construction. The company also works to mitigate environmental harm with land restoration and biodiversity measures. It had planted 100,000 teak seedlings as of 2023 and plans to reach 1 million by 2028 as part of its commitment to environmental stewardship.
Crossing borders, fueling growth
Genser’s most ambitious project to date is a cross-border natural-gas pipeline stretching from Prestea, Ghana, to Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, with long-term plans to extend into Guinea. “We built the gas infrastructure to be able to take the gas to a less developed country, to displace diesel, and now we will backfill that with solar or wind,” says Asiamah-Adjei. Genser now finally has the capital to move forward on an original goal: investing in the infrastructure needed to produce renewable energy.
In 2018 and 2019, Genser brought in two graduates of MIT’s Technology and Public Policy program—Elizabeth Murphy ’15, SM ’18, and Janet Yun, SM ’18—to help chart the pipeline’s course. Instead of opting for the most direct route, they studied regional development trends to anticipate industrial zones that might emerge over the next 25 years, and the company routed the pipeline accordingly. “Bottom line is that we brought on MIT people whenever we needed to solve our problems,” says Asiamah-Adjei.
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