Hey, roommates! So, do you remember when we posted a story with a woman named Evelyn who told of the growing electricity crisis in Ghana? They are calling it “Dumsor”, because power outages are occurring for up to a whole day, yet, people in power are not doing much to address the situation. The young lady said that people are dying in hospitals because there is no light to perform surgery and children are missing school since there’s no electricity to keep schools running. Well, it turns out that these blackouts are affecting other countries in Africa and pop star Akon has decided to do something about it!
Akon has launched “Akon Lighting Africa” at the second United Nations Sustainable Energy for All Forum in New York last week. He aims to bring electricity to over 600 million Africans who lack it. The group wants to effectively utilize the 320 days of sunlight that the continent experiences every year to create and implement a system of solar energy to generate electricity. Samba Baithily, who co-founded Akon Lighting Africa with Akon and Thione Niang said, “We have the sun and innovative technologies to bring electricity to homes and communities. We now need to consolidate African expertise.”
According to The Huffington Post, the Solar Academy will open this summer in Bamako, Mali’s capital. The school is supposed to give African engineers and entrepreneurs the tools and skills needed to develop solar power through the guidance of European experts.
On how the program will work, Akon Lighting Africa said, “The academy will aim to teach people how to install and maintain solar-powered electricity systems as well as micro grids which are really taking off in rural Africa.” The group realizes the importance of creating sustainable jobs, so they believe that creating this academy will allow it’s graduates “to devise new, innovative, technical solutions,” said Thione Niang.
We love this! There should be many more artists who put their money where their roots are. Let’s chat below!
Source Cited: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/
TSR Intern: Talia O. @theclosetratchet on Instagram and @tallyohhh on Twitter!
