Akon’s Letter On Why You Should Join The Fight To Help Electrify Africa

It’s hard to imagine living without basic electricity, but that’s the reality for nearly 600 million people in sub-Saharan Africa.

Imagine giving birth or having an operation in a dark hospital with only a flashlight and no other equipment. Want to get a vaccine? It’s tough without refrigeration.

Pretty much everything you and I take for granted cannot function without power — schools, hospitals, factories, farms, and businesses.

Growing up in Dakar, Senegal, I saw first-hand the devastating effects of living without access to energy. That’s why I started “Akon Lighting Africa,” an initiative which has already brought electricity to 200,000 homes across the continent and intends to have one million hooked up by the end of this year.

It’s also why I’m teaming up with The ONE Campaign — Bono’s global anti-poverty organization — to build support for lifesaving legislation on energy in Africa, especially among millennials.

On May 7th, the House will have an extraordinary opportunity to tackle energy poverty when it votes on The Electrify Africa Act, a bipartisan bill introduced by Reps. Ed Royce (R-CA) and Eliot Engel (D-NJ) that would save countless lives and help millions of people lift themselves out of extreme poverty.

The aim of The Electrify Africa Act is to help countries in Africa deliver electricity to 50 million African people for the very first time. And you can make sure it passes by Tweeting your representative.

                                                

The bill will not only save lives — it saves money. According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the Electrify Africa Act will save US taxpayers $86 million over the next five years because of the way it leverages private investment.

A decade ago, both parties rallied around bold bipartisan plans to tackle the global AIDS epidemic, particularly in Africa. And after years of cooperation, we’ve helped to turn the tide against a killer disease to such an extent that the actual end of AIDS is possible within our lifetimes.

In 2002, only 50,000 Africans were receiving life-saving antiretroviral treatments. Today, more than 7.5 million are being kept alive, many of them flourishing, thanks in large part to America’s commitment to getting safe, effective medications to those in need.

The Electrify Africa Act would be similarly transformative, as modern life is wholly dependent on electricity. In order to ensure that a similar bill is introduced and passed in the Senate, I’m working with ONE on the #PowerProject, a campaign that will roll out with the aim of generating letters to Senators from constituents.

I joined ONE last month at the University of Southern California to launch the #PowerProject Campaign Lab, an innovative incubator where USC students created fresh ideas and new approaches in order to raise public awareness and drive action around energy poverty.

USC students pitched their ideas for viral social media campaigns and received immediate feedback. We had submissions open to all USC students and the best proposal will be part of ONE’s upcoming nationwide campaign, The #Power Project.

Stay tuned over the summer to the #PowerProject to see the students’ incredible ideas put into action.

In the meantime, to learn more and take action in the fight against energy poverty, visit ONE.org/energy.

Akon is an international philanthropist, business mogul, hip hop and R&B recording artist, songwriter and record producer. The Senegalese American has sold 35 million albums worldwide, five Grammy Award nominations, and 45 Billboard Hot 100 songs under his belt. In February 2014, Akon launched a partnership to bring electricity to one million households in Africa by the end of 2014.

You can read more on Akon's #Power Project here