{"id":7045,"date":"2015-07-10T06:39:21","date_gmt":"2015-07-10T06:39:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/?p=7045"},"modified":"2016-11-28T16:30:51","modified_gmt":"2016-11-28T16:30:51","slug":"akon-lighting-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/akon-lighting-africa","title":{"rendered":"Akon Gives $200,000 To The West African Energy Leaders Group"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"a6b39195b99473d6c9dd698db2668010\" data-index=\"1\" style=\"float: none; margin:2px 0 2px 0; text-align:center;\">\n<center>\r\n\r\n<script type='text\/javascript'>\r\nfunction ShorterThan(widthMax) {\r\n                if (screen.width < widthMax) {return true;}  \r\n                else {return false}\r\n    }\r\nvar LimitWidth = 728\r\nvar MobileZoneID = 348996\r\nvar DesktopZoneID = 348995   \r\n<!--\/\/<![CDATA[\r\n   document.MAX_ct0 ='';\r\n   var m3_u = (location.protocol=='https:'?'https:\/\/cas.criteo.com\/delivery\/ajs.php?':'https:\/\/cas.criteo.com\/delivery\/ajs.php?');\r\n   var m3_r = Math.floor(Math.random()*99999999999);\r\n   document.write (\"<scr\"+\"ipt type='text\/javascript' src='\"+m3_u);\r\n   if (ShorterThan(LimitWidth)) {document.write (\"zoneid=\"+MobileZoneID);} else {document.write (\"zoneid=\"+DesktopZoneID);}\r\n   document.write(\"&nodis=1\");\r\n   document.write ('&cb=' + m3_r);\r\n   if (document.MAX_used != ',') document.write (\"&exclude=\" + document.MAX_used);\r\n   document.write (document.charset ? '&charset='+document.charset : (document.characterSet ? '&charset='+document.characterSet : ''));\r\n   document.write (\"&loc=\" + escape(window.location));\r\n   if (document.referrer) document.write (\"&referer=\" + escape(document.referrer));\r\n   if (document.context) document.write (\"&context=\" + escape(document.context));\r\n   if ((typeof(document.MAX_ct0) != 'undefined') && (document.MAX_ct0.substring(0,4) == 'http')) {\r\n       document.write (\"&ct0=\" + escape(document.MAX_ct0));\r\n   }\r\n   if (document.mmm_fo) document.write (\"&mmm_fo=1\");\r\n   document.write (\"'><\/scr\"+\"ipt>\");\r\n\/\/]]>--><\/script>\r\n<\/center>\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">Senegalese-American R&amp;B singer Akon, whose real name is Alioune Badara Thiam, continues to make the news with his initiative called Akon Lighting Africa. The organization recently made the commitment to invest $200,000 to support the West African Energy Leaders Group, a platform launched in January 2015, that will bring together active\u00a0political and business leaders in the energy sector to work together and improve energy access in West Africa. According to the musician,\u00a0<em>\u201cthe creation of this group brings evidence of a very strong commitment. The countries of the western African region are ready to tackle the electrification issue and want to work together to identify and propose fast solutions\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify\">Building An Ecosystem<\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">Last May, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/akon-plans-bring-electricity-600-million-people-africa\" target=\"_blank\">the organization launched a solar academy in Mali<\/a> that will train young African entrepreneurs, engineers and technicians in the field of solar energy. So far, Akon Lighting Africa has marked its presence in 14 countries,\u00a0providing electricity to more than a million people.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_7054\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-7054\" style=\"width: 700px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-7054\" src=\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/07\/gabon.jpg\" alt=\"source\" width=\"700\" height=\"505\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/07\/gabon.jpg 700w, https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/07\/gabon-416x300.jpg 416w, https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/07\/gabon-600x433.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-7054\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.designindaba.com\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/scaledlarge\/public\/node\/news\/20038\/gallery\/gabon.jpg?itok=T9YOUSB_\" target=\"_blank\">source<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>{adinserter CNP5}<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">Akon Lighting Africa differs from many energy projects you will come across. The business model aims to promote inclusive and sustainable growth by supplying solar power through microgrid systems to rural communities. The project brings together\u00a0governments, who subsidize the installation of community kits, private entities, who manage operations, and end consumers,\u00a0who prepay for the electricity they receive.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">&#8220;It is the first time ever that countries adopt a 360\u00b0 vision, looking at all issues all together \u2013 regulation, financing, power capacity sharing, regional integration, energy mix. As Africans we are very happy to see this project come to life,\u201d Akon revealed.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<figure id=\"attachment_7049\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-7049\" style=\"width: 700px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-7049 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/07\/30baef321eadf0f39229138aedf9390e.jpg\" alt=\"source\" width=\"700\" height=\"465\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/07\/30baef321eadf0f39229138aedf9390e.jpg 700w, https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/07\/30baef321eadf0f39229138aedf9390e-452x300.jpg 452w, https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/07\/30baef321eadf0f39229138aedf9390e-600x399.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-7049\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/pin\/309059593156189689\/\" target=\"_blank\">source<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify\">An Ambitious Project<\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">Akon Lighting Africa has so far secured a $1 billion credit line that will help arrange longer-term financing for governments. The organization&#8217;s ambition is to expand to 48 African nations by 2020, and to improve the economies by creating jobs, opening schools and building health infrastructure.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-header\">\n<div class=\"margin-bottom-medium\">\n<blockquote><p>\u201cNo matter who you have to bring in, regardless of politics [and] policies, we just want to be able to bring solutions to Africa without the extra red tape,\u201d\u00a0Akon said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<div>\n<figure id=\"attachment_7048\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-7048\" style=\"width: 700px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-7048\" src=\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/07\/88cce9d872685c290f4b759993d998e8.jpg\" alt=\"source\" width=\"700\" height=\"467\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/07\/88cce9d872685c290f4b759993d998e8.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/07\/88cce9d872685c290f4b759993d998e8-450x300.jpg 450w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-7048\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/pin\/272819689903867082\/\" target=\"_blank\">source<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<h6>sources: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.devex.com\/news\/how-akon-lighting-africa-is-working-to-tackle-energy-access-86481\" target=\"_blank\">Devex<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/akonlightingafrica.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Akon Lighting Africa<\/a><\/h6>\n<div><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/akon-plans-bring-electricity-600-million-people-africa\">SEE ALSO: Akon Plans to Bring Electricity to 600 Million People in Africa.<\/a><\/strong><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!--CusAds0-->\n<div style=\"font-size: 0px; height: 0px; line-height: 0px; margin: 0; padding: 0; clear: both;\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Senegalese-American R&amp;B singer Akon, whose real name is Alioune Badara Thiam, continues to make the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":7124,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2,108,110],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Akon Gives $200,000 To The West African Energy Leaders Group<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Akon continues to make the news with his initiative Akon Called Lighting Africa.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/akon-lighting-africa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" 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