Senegalese-American rapper Akon has added The Gambia and Cape Verde to his Akon Lighting Africa initiative, a fund that has provided solar lighting in 25 African countries where rural populations struggle to connect to the national grid.
The “Smack That” singer has owned a clothing line in New York City, a diamond mine in South Africa, and now an African solar lighting company. He was once listed as the No. 1-selling artist in the world for ringtones. In 2011, Forbes ranked him fifth out of 40 Most Powerful Celebrities in Africa. He says he’s a businessman first and a musician second.
Akon runs Akon Lighting Africa with fellow Senegalese Thione Niang and Malian entrepreneur Samba Bathily. Its goal? To bring clean energy to millions of households in Africa.
Akon Lighting Africa was launched in 2015. By 2016, it had raised about $1 billion to finance projects in Africa.
A desire to bring electricity to his grandmother’s house back in Senegal eventually grew into something much bigger — supplying solar lighting for Africa — Akon said.
“It was a way of just trying to figure out what solution would be necessary to get electricity there,” Akon said. “In the process, you start to realize how many people are out there lacking electricity, especially in Africa.”
Coming from the entertainment industry, Akon says it was challenging trying to convince some old-fashioned African leaders to support his solar lighting project.
“We had to really prove ourselves from one country to the next,” Akon said.
It’s a unique business model that offers solar kits to households and small communities. They’re pre-financed with a $1 billion credit line with international banks and financial partners,
