Announced last week by Akon Lighting Africa, the creation of a solar academy in Bamako, Mali will help beef up Africa’s solar workforce.
Akon Lighting Africa founders Akon, Thione Niang and Samba Bathily say the facility will be the first on the continent to cater to African solar entrepreneurs, engineers and technicians.
“We are doing more than just investing in clean energy. We are investing in human capital,” said Samba Bathily. “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.”
In partnership with Solektra International and through collaboration with experts from Europe who will provide training equipment and other resources, the Academy will train in all aspects of installing and maintaining solar power systems; with a strong focus on micro-grids.
More than 600 million Africans still do not have access to electricity – but with significant solar radiation levels and the cost of solar continually dropping; it’s a slam dunk for a booming solar industry.
Akon Lighting Africa says it seeks to provide grass roots solutions to Africa’s energy crisis and lay the foundations for future development.
Akon; whose full name is apparently Aliaune Damala Thiam, may be a successful (if at times controversial) recording artist now, but he reportedly spent much of his childhood without electricity in the West African nation of Senegal before leaving at the age of seven to live in the USA in Union City, New Jersey.
In addition to the Solar Academy, Akon Lighting Africa is working to distribute and install solar-powered street lights and residential solar systems in villages in 14 African countries, including Senegal, Mali, and Burkina Faso.
The project commenced early last year with the securing of $1 billion in credit lines with international banks and financial partners. The average investment per village is $75,000 and almost $400 million in total has been invested so far.
“Thanks to Akon Lighting Africa we have launched in one year a new dynamic and helped raising collective awareness: solutions are available, ready to hand and we can address the electrification challenge – quickly!” says Akon.
