Akon provided solar power for 600 million people in Africa, makes you wonder what all these charities have really been up to.
He got a one billion USD loan from a network of Chinese banks.
He started Akon Lighting Africa | Solar power initiative after visiting his family in Senegal and exploring the business opportunity in the solar energy sector all over Africa.
This is a video of him explaining the challenges he had to face when he started looking for the finances.
No Western banks wanted to loan money to his projects despite its potential. They labeled his project as high risk. Even if he had gotten the money, the interests would have been astronomical. In the end, Akon turned to the Chinese who are already doing business in Africa and know the potential for returns out there.
The rest as they say is history. He is already working in 15 countries and counting. This is not charity work. This is business.
Last year, he was at conference in Rwanda, my home country. I was surprised by his knowledge of the marketplace on the continent and what needs to be done to improve people’s lives. Trade and business is always how you go about it.
In this video, he is talking branding and marketing Africa to attract more tourists and investors. To surpass the negative image that the western media are always portraying of a poor and dying Africa, when in reality, we have so much more than that.
This is not charity, This is business!
