American based Senegalese singer, Akon has shown his love for his home in way much more innovative than a song collaboration.
Akon just launched an initiative called Lighting Africa, which aims to supply electricity to 600 million people in Africa who lack it with the launch of the Solar Academy. The Academy which is located in Mali aims to teach African engineers and entrepreneurs essential skills to harness solar power to generate electricity.
With most of Africa having about 320 days of sun a year, utilizing the excess solar energy is way overdue.
“We have the sun and innovative technologies to bring electricity to homes and communities. We now need to consolidate African expertise,” said Samba Baithily, who founded Akon Lighting Africa with Akon and Thione Niang.
“We expect the Africans who graduate from this center to devise new, innovative, technical solutions,” said Niang. “With this academy, we can capitalize on Akon Lighting Africa and go further.”
According to the Lighting Africa website, the initiative will hit 14 countries starting from Mali to Niger, Senegal, Guinea (Conakry), Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone, Benin, Guinea Equatorial, Gabon, Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Namibia, Madagascar and finally Nigeria.
This is not Akon’s first attempt to help the community around him. In 2007, Akon founded the Konfidence Foundation along with his father’s wife, Kine Gueye Thiam, to empowering youth in Senegal, West Africa and the United States by promoting health and education, and supporting impoverished families.
Other charity causes that Akon supports are Barbara Davis Center for Childhood Diabetes, Clothes Off Our Back, Hip-Hop Summit Action Network, NoVo Foundation and Peace One Day.
