By Victor Ochieng

During a recent interview with Vlad TV, singer Akon discussed his hope of bringing electricity connection to 600 million people across the African continent.

It’s in the same interview that the “Lonely” singer acknowledged that he didn’t have the financial muscle to jumpstart the project alone, compelling him to seek backing from other sources. The 43-year-old music producer and R&B star revealed that he sought aid from Chinese investors.

“So I went to China,” Akon explains. “I met up with some friends out there, some manufacturers, and aligned myself with one of the biggest companies in China that’s owned by the Chinese Government, that manufactures Solar…”

In the process of working to have the project kick off, Akon realized that the taxation around Solar Energy was too much, owing to George W. Bush policies. “He did it because his main agenda was in oil, he needed the oil to keep burning right, so anything renewable he wanted to keep away because if effected the money,” the singer says of Bush policies.

He, therefore, had to make use of unused solar products and the $1 billion Chinese credit line so as to get the project rolling.

Akon also talked about his African background, mentioning how he grew up without electricity, something he now believes everyone should have access to. He grew up in Senegal, a country located on the West coast of Africa.

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