Akon Activates Africa

4 REAL-LEADERS.COM / SUMMER 2019 01 MUSIC My momwas a dancer and my dad a jazz musician. Since music was big in our family, I learned to play instruments like the drums and guitar. While in jail, I explored my early musical talent. When I got out, I set up a home studio and produced a demo album right away. After some twists and turns and quite a few struggles, I was signed by Universal/ Motown Records, and my solo debut, “Trouble,” was released in 2004. In 2006, I launchedmy own record label called Kon Live Productions. When starting Kon Live at Interscope, I listened to all of their existing demos. At the time, I was writing for the Pussycat Dolls and had just signed a producer named RedOne. One day, I was looking for more inspiration, something that could spark some ideas. Red said, “I know somebody that you can rock with.” He invited her down, she killed it at the demo, and I knew she was special. We spent 30 days in a studio, and that artist, Lady Gaga, finished her album. When I get involved with an artist, I put them through the same process I went through. I develop their sound, songs, and style with them, and often help promote them from radio station to radio station, DJ to DJ. Everybody in the business knows that when I sign an artist, I don’t just sign them; I get behind them. Collaboration is the key to anyone’s advancement — you just need the right partners. I became the first artist to hold both the No. 1 and No. 2 spots on the BillboardHot 100with “I Wanna Love You” (ft. Snoop Dogg) and “Smack That” (ft. Eminem). I was also recognized as America’s favoritemale R&B/Soul artist at the 2007 AmericanMusic Awards, and I was BET’s Hip-Hop Awards Producer of the Year in 2008. I reachedmymusical dreams while working on the track “HoldMy Hand” with the King of Pop, Michael Jackson. My music career resulted in two multi-platinum albums, 27 songs on the Billboard Top 100, and countless connections to amazingly brilliant people. But eventually, that nappy-haired kid with the thick accent who felt like an outcast realized it was time to work on a more impactful legacy. When I was touring globally, we had concerts scheduled in certain parts of Africa, but I couldn’t properly perform because there was limited or no electricity. Once, we started a concert in an area which had some electricity, but before the second song started, all the lights went out. When I returned to the area where I grew up, to visit my grandma, it was like nothing had changed in the two decades I’d been gone — there still wasn’t electricity or running water! Everytime I would visit, I would try to upgrade her living conditions, but she would never take anything. I wanted to at least put electricity in the house but discovered that the grid was too far away. It didn’t matter howmuchmoney I had; there was no way I could bring electricity to her. That’s the moment when it hit me: Something needed to be done, not just for my grandmother, but also for the other millions of people across the continent living without power. I realized I could leverage my success to help people. 02 AKON LIGHTINGAFRICA When I first started Akon Lighting Africa in 2014 with Samba Bathily and Thione Niang, I wanted to bring electricity to Africa. If I was going to be instrumental in helping Africa create infrastructure, we needed to have energy. In Akon Lighting Africa’s early stages, I didn’t know anything about energy. The music industry opened up many educational doors for me. Because of my connections as an artist, I now have the resources to learn about everything that can help me accomplish my goals. I can now answer any question about energy. Initially, I planned to use gasoline and fossil fuels to power Africa. When I realized I couldn’t get into traditional energy since it would cost billions of dollars to expand Africa’s energy grid, I thought of another way: the sun. You can’t run from the sun in Africa. At that time, solar power was really expensive. It was hard to scale out amajor project for solar power in those areas. I started doingmore research and realized the Chinese had built a whole infrastructure of solar power to penetrate the United States market. The United States was trying to shut themout and put a 200 percent tax on all solar products coming fromChina. That was the best thing that could’ve happened for us. I flew to China and connected with the biggest solar supplier manufacturer. They had all of these facilities and inventory they couldn’t use because it was set for the United States. I was able to negotiate a billion-dollar credit line to use all of the equipment and supplies for Africa. With that credit line, I was able to secure contracts with some African governments, and we installed street lamps in cities and rural areas. We have now expanded to home systems. When I faced adversities, I never gave up. I always kept trying to find alternative ways to achieve my goals. I got creative and figured out a way to improve people’s lives. Now, because of the streetlights, vendors can spend six to eight more hours outside after sunset providing for their families. Children can effectively study at night when they previously had to sit in a small kerosene-lit room reading through thick and toxic smoke. African women can leave their houses when it’s dark out with a sense of security. In one area, crime decreased by 90 percent once our lights went up. In less than a year, with the help of partners, Akon Lighting Africa installed solar lights in 14 (now 18) countries across the continent. We’ve also been able to create the Solektra Solar Academy, which provides solar lighting and solar panel installation and maintenance training. Once these kids graduate, they’re often hired by our company. To date, we’ve provided solar lighting that has improved the lives of about 100 million people.