Akon Launches Initiative to Supply Electricity to 6 Million in Africa
When he’s not singing or producing hit songs, Akon is using his star power to make a difference in the world.
The Senegalese-American singer’s initiative, appropriately named Akon Lighting Africa, aims to supply electricity to 600 million people in Africa with the launch of a “Solar Academy.”
According to Akon Lighting Africa, the goal of the academy is “to teach people how to maintain solar-powered electricity systems and microgrids. Both systems have been growing quickly in rural parts of Africa. In a continent that has 320 days of sun a year, roping in its natural resources will be valuable to the solar-energy efforts.”
“We have the sun and innovative technologies to bring electricity to homes and communities. We now need to consolidate African expertise and that is our objective,” said co-founder Samba Bathily.
Bathily added: “We are doing more than just investing in clean energy. We are investing in human capital. We can achieve great milestones and accelerate the African transformation process on condition that we start training a new generation of highly qualified African engineers, technicians and entrepreneurs now.”
Learn more about the initiative here.
(Photo Credit: Leonard Adam/Getty Images)
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