R&B artist Akon is behind a push to light up homes and streets across Africa with solar power.
Akon Lighting Africa is setting up a ‘Solar Academy’ in Mali so people can learn skills around installing and maintaining solar-powered electricity systems and micro grids.
The academy will have assistance from European solar technicians and experts to supply training programs, equipment and guidance, PV Magazine has reported.
The ALA website says the group has already completed projects in 11 African countries, which provides sustainable energy and local jobs.
The endeavour was launched in 2014 to accelerate the electrification of Africa by installing off-grid solar solutions suited to home and collective use, like street lights.
Senegalese-American artist Akon, famous for songs including “Locked Up” and “Smack That”, started Akon Lighting Africa (ALA) with cofounders Samba Bathily and Thione Niang.
Akon says he lived in Senegal for part of his childhood without any electricity, like many children in Africa.
"I was one of those kids you see running around with no shoes on living in straw huts," Akon told the National Journal last year.
The most recent World Energy Outlook report from the International Energy Agency says two-thirds of people in sub-Saharan Africa live without electricity.
The ALA initiative was recently mentioned at the close of the ‘Sustainable Energy For All’ forum last month, where cofounders explained the idea for the charity – supplying pre-financed solar kits for homes and communities that would be repaid later.
Bringing solar power to homes could benefit people's health, as African homes that do not have electricity often burn kerosene for light.
The World Health Organisation lists kerosene as a toxin and research suggests burning kerosene has negative effects on air quality.
The business model of funding small-scale off-grid solar solutions is being used already.
Website and solar financing business SunFunder allows people to ‘invest’ directly in solar projects.
The funding is made available to people who install solar panels and sell solar lamps in African countries, India and other developing nations.
The invested money is returned to investors in full, which they can either withdraw or reinvest in other projects.
The first project was fully repaid to investors in May 2013.
Today, 24 out of 34 projects have been fully repaid.
Currently, the SunFunder website is raising $US31,000 to provide funding for African retailers to sell more than 3000 solar lamps to communities in Zimbabwe.
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