Senegalese-American singer Akon, whose Akon Lighting Africa initiative aims to bring electricity to some of the 600 million Africans who lack it, announced on Thursday the launch of a new “Solar Academy” for the continent.
Akon, 42, made the announcement at the United Nations Sustainable Energy for All Forum in New York.
The project is one of the many under the Senegalese-American’s Akon Lighting Africa initiative, which was launched in 2014 to bring solar electricity power to 600 million Africans that currently live off the grid.
The “Solar Academy,” will open this summer in Bamako, the capital of Mali. The academy will aim to teach people how to instal and maintain solar-powered electricity systems as well as micro grids, “which are really taking off in rural Africa”, Akon Lighting Africa said.
The academy will teach solar engineers how to install and maintain solar panels and “micro-grids,” small electrical grids that provide power to a very limited region , harnessing the 320 days of sunshine that most parts of Africa receive annually.
“Micro-grids” are increasingly popular in rural Africa, where conventional, large-scale power infrastructure is unavailable.
When Akon is not singing or producing music, he is busy providing sustainable living options to people in African countries. The Senegalese-American singer’s initiative, appropriately called Akon Lighting Africa, aims to supply electricity to 600 million people in Africa who lack it.
The Senegalese-American celebrity is the latest participant in what some have deemed a “solar revolution” that’s bringing the alternative energy source to the impoverished but sun-rich continent.
Akon Lighting Africa is now present in 14 African countries and has provided solar power to more than 1 million households by subsidizing the cost of installation for consumers keen on replacing kerosene with solar energy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqoIQFfuvYE
