Senegalese-born RnB singer and record producer Aliaune Bouga Badara, aka Akon, wound up his visit to Rwanda, yesterday, with a pledge to give Rwandans priority in rolling out his ‘Akon Lighting Africa’ initiative.

The singer arrived in the country on Monday morning accompanied by his entourage, which included his two business partners and co-founders of the project, Samba Bathily from Mali, and Senegalese businessman Thione Niang.

They made a stop-over at the Hotel de Mille Collines Kempinsky, before embarking on the day’s business.

Akon’s first official stop was at the Rwanda Development Board offices in Remera, where he met officials from the Ministry of Infrastructure and RDB.

After the closed-door meeting, the singer and his entourage headed to the Kigali Genocide Memorial Centre in Gisozi, where he laid a wreath on the mass graves of victims of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.

The singer did not make any public statement while at the historic ground.

Akon was then immediately driven off from the memorial, but his two business partners stayed behind to watch a mini documentary about the Kigali Genocide Memorial Centre.

A press conference that had been slated for 2 pm at the Kigali City Tower did not kick off until 5pm, when the singer eventually arrived.

In his brief speech, Akon revealed that the project should be up and running in the next six months if all goes according to schedule.

"Today, we met with the necessary parties but I won’t reveal further details because we are not decided yet on how much we’re bringing on board, but it’s going to be a pretty massive project obviously.”

The singer further revealed that the project will benefit Rwandans not only in terms of access to solar energy, but also to jobs and critical expertise.

"Akon Lighting Africa is set to hire the locals. Do not assume we are going to hire or ship in a thousand people to do the job. We are going to hire a couple of technicians who will come here and train the local team to maintain and be able to install the products.”

The singer also revealed that talks were underway between his team and the Rwandan government on the possibility of establishing a solar academy in Rwanda.

Launched in February 2014, the Akon Lighting Africa project seeks to provide solar-powered solutions to Africa’s acute energy crisis especially in the countryside.

editorial@newtimes.co.rw