Rapper and solar energy entrepreneur Akon will be joining his Solektra International partners Samba Bathily and Thione Niang at Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week (ADSW).

The group will represent Akon Lighting Africa (ALA), a Solektra International’s initiative to bring renewable and affordable energy to rural communities in Africa. 

Akon will be speaking to students from high schools all over the world, who will be participating in the 2016 Zayed Future Energy Prize.

He will also engage with students about the subject of sustainability at The Student Exclusive, a first-of-its-kind ADSW event dedicated just for students studying across the UAE.

Akon and his partners in the Akon Lighting Africa Initiative have expressed that the opportunity to attend the ADSW is what is needed to build strong partnerships that will aid in delivering sustainable energy for Africa.

Akon said: “The urgency of delivering sustainable energy access to the 600 million Africans with no electricity access is the message we took to the Paris Climate Change conference in December. We see ADSW – the first global gathering on sustainability since COP 21 – as a great opportunity to transition the historic agreement reached at Paris into action to deliver a brighter future for Africa.”  

“For us, ADSW is a key platform to broker the connections and public-private partnerships needed to accelerate the electrification of Africa. This issue is high on the global agenda. What we need now is direct financing towards the most impactful projects, especially microgrids for rural communities.” said Solektra International’s co-founder and CEO Bathily.