600 Million Africans still don't have access to electricity
Today, 600 million Africans still don’t have access to electricity, particularly in rural areas.
In far too many parts of Africa, night-time economic activities are practically non-existent. Women cannot make productive use of their time to carry out the most basic household tasks. Children who help the women cannot study at night without proper light and complete their homework by candle light, an additional expense for parents. Moreover, without access to electricity, over 3.5 million Africans die every year from harmful pollutants or fires in the home produced by costly and toxic solid fuels.
“Electricity is more than light. This is a true change in our daily life”, A mother, Yelimané, village, Mali
“Electricity is more than light. This is a true change in our daily life”, A mother, Yelimané, village, Mali
To meet these challenges, Akon Lighting Africa seeks to provide a concrete response at grass roots level to Africa’s energy crisis and lay the foundations for future development. Launched in February 2014 by international music star, Akon, leader Thione Niang and entrepreneur Samba Bathily, this initiative aims to develop an innovative solar-powered solution that will provide African villages with access to a clean and affordable source of electricity.
“Thanks to solar electricity we can now forget about kerosene, that is harmful and so expensive”,Inhabitant, Thiambokh Village, Senegal
In less than one year, thanks to a private-public partnership model and a well-established network of partners (including SOLEKTRA INT, SUMEC and NARI), a wide range of quality solar solutions, including street lamps, domestic and individual kits, have been installed in 14 African countries.
As a result, a number of households, villages, community houses, schools and health centres located in rural areas have been connected to electricity for the first time ever. Local jobs, primarily for young people, have also been created in these communities, whether for installation of equipment’s or for maintenance.
“Now I can recharge my phone at home, I do not have to walk for hours or to pay for that”, Inhabitant, Village, Niger
Next steps for Akon Lighting Africa: Launch of the first Solar Academy in Africa
New York, 21 May 2015 – As the second United Nations Sustainable Energy for All Forum (SE4A) paid tribute in its closing session to the progress generated by the Akon Lighting Africa initiative, its founders Akon, Thione Niang and Samba Bathily were already looking to the future and next steps. They have just announced the creation of a “Solar Academy” to develop skills and expertise in this field in Africa. This professional training center of excellence is a first on the continent and targets future African entrepreneurs, engineers and technicians. It will open its doors this summer in Bamako, Mali and welcome any Africans wanting to help develop the use of solar power.
This project is being introduced under the patronage of Solektra international, a partner of Akon Lighting Africa, in collaboration some European experts who will supply training equipment and programs. It aims to reinforce expertise in every aspect of installing and maintaining solar-powered electric systems and micro-grids in particular, which are really taking off in rural Africa. With its 320 days sunshine a year, the continent is perfectly suited to the development of solar power, particularly since 622 million Africans still do not have access to electricity.
“We have the sun and innovative technologies to bring electricity to homes and communities. We now need to consolidate African expertise and that is our objective” explained Samba Bathily at the SE4All. “We are doing more than just investing in clean energy. We are investing in human capital. 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” he added.
With 70% of the population aged under 35, Africa is the continent with the youngest population today. One of the biggest challenges it faces is training and creating sustainable employment. “We expect the Africans who graduate from this center to devise new, innovative, technical solutions. With this Academy, we can capitalize on Akon Lighting Africa and go further,”Thione Niang said. Indeed, Akon Lighting Africa adopted a sustainable business model from the outset – providing training and creating jobs enabling local populations to embrace technical solutions and become self-sufficient. The Solar Academy will help to extend this business model and promote inclusive growth throughout Africa.
@AkonLighting
Please address all press queries or interview requests to:
Célia Grémy (Paris) – celia.gremy@gmail.com – +33 6 10 87 53 19
Julien Lavaud (Paris) – jlavaud@apcoworldwide.com – + 33 6 22 35 18 06
Anne-Elvire Kormann-Esmel (New York) – aesmel@apcoworldwide.com – + 33 6 46 41 77 84
No comments:
Post a Comment