African-American pop star, Akon along with Thione Niang and Samba Bathily have announced a Solar Academy in Bamako, Mali through the Akon Lighting Africa initiative.
This announcement was made at the second United Nations Sustainable Energy for All Forum (SE4A). The initiative, which is supported by Solektra International and other foreign experts, will provide training programs and training equipment to African entrepreneurs, engineers and technicians to further develop their skill.. The program aims to tutor entrants on the installation and maintenance of solar-powered electric systems and micro-grids.
“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,” Samba Bathily said at the SE4A. “We are doing more than just investing in clean energy. We are investing in human capital.”
Solar power is one area of power generation the continent is looking to harness and the growth of M-KOPA across East Africa indicates a model that can be replicated across the continent . The academy will be open by summer this year.
Source: AkonlightingAfrica
