By ‘Dayo Showemimo
Senegal-born American singer, Akon is looking beyond music. The award winning star now seeks to lend a helping hand to his continent with an initiative aimed at providing electricity to over 600 million Africans with the launch of a new Solar Academy located in Bamako, Mali.
The Academy will train local African engineers and entrepreneurs how to produce solar energy under the ‘Akon Lighting Africa‘ initiative aimed at bringing solar power to over 600 million Africans.
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 and with the continent boasting 320 sunny days in 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,’ Samba Baithily, who founded Akon Lighting Africa along with the music superstar and Thione Niang, said.
