18 •
The Lion King
• July - September 2015
K
nown more for his soulful music,
many people may also not know
that Akon has another passion to
“light up Africa.”
The international music artiste, through
the Akon Lighting Africa (ALA) initiative
launched in 2014, wants to bring elec-
tric power to 600 million Africans who
live without power. So far, ALA has pro-
vided solar street lamps, micro-gener-
ators, charging stations and home kits
to 14 countries – Benin, Burkina Faso,
Democratic Republic of the Congo,
Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Guinea,
Kenya, Namibia, Madagascar, Mali,
Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, and Sierra
Leone.
He was at the iconic UBA House on
Marina, Lagos, Nigeria recently with
his partners on ALA; Thione Niang and
Samba Bathily to share experiences
and inspire young entrepreneurs in
Nigeria on the invitation of renowned
entrepreneur and Group Chairman of
UBA, Mr. Tony Elumelu.
Speaking to an audience mostly made
up of the Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurs
from Nigeria, UBA Executives and busi-
ness leaders at the Amphitheatre in
UBA House, the multi-platinum selling
artiste and entrepreneur spoke about
the inspiration for his philanthropic
initiative to light up Africa, business
growth, investments and his hopes for
the future.
It is no longer
about the songs
but legacy,” says
Akon
Akon talks about lighting
Africa and investments
at UBA House
