Senegalese-American singer Akon was warmly welcomed when he arrived in Benin, West Africa, back in August. The country was the singer’s last stop on his tour of six different African countries, as part of his ‘Akon Lighting Africa initiative’. The officialenergy minister of Benin came to greet him at the Cotonou airport in Cotonou, the largest city in Benin.
Akon was joined on the trip by his business partners, Thione Niang and Samba Bathily. Together the three of them make the perfect combination for success in the Akon Lighting Africa initiative. Akon is the brand, Bathily is the ‘businessman’ and Niang’s focuses on the youth engagement and political introductions elements of the project.
Akon said in an interview, ‘“I’m a businessman first, then musician”. He also admitted to only recently learning what an ‘entrepreneur’ is but has always often regarded himself as somewhat of a businessman. Starting off by selling snicker bars at school to make a profit, to then moving on to some much heavier and illegal money making opportunities which eventually landed him in jail. But today, his focus is turned to changing lives and not just his own.
‘I can be an artist … and make money. But I’m in a place where I’m gifted … and offered opportunities where I can make a difference and change lives.’- Akon
The Akon Lighting Africa initiative is simple- bringing attention to the issues Africa faces in energy poverty and making a change. The initiative’s current focus is the demonstration of solar power projects to power the homes of the people of Africa. A big part of the business has been solar powered street lamps- providing these poor areas of Africa with the gift of light.
‘When you talk about health, there is no health without energy, no education, no commerce, no trade. So we said we were going to start from there.’
– Thione Niang, co-founder of Akon Lighting Africa
Akon spent part of his childhood in Senegal, living in a house with no electricity whatsoever. He understands the struggle first hand, of living without electricity and has used his own personal experiences to fuel his passion to make a change for the people in a similar situation to the one he was once in.
Akon Lighting Africa has now changed the lives of over 1 million people to date by providing towns with light and energy access.
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