Thione Niang – Lighting Up Awaji.
Proper guidance can be the tipping point between broken dreams and businesses that change lives.
On Saturday 11th, May 2019, AYF had the pleasure of being invited to a seminar by Mr Thione Niang, Co-Founder of “Akon Lightening Africa” at YumebutaiAwaji. The seminar centred around the topic of ‘Impact of investment’ and gave AYF fellows the opportunity to personally receive guidance from a global leader in Social Entrepreneurship.
‘Thione Niang’
Thione Niang is a political strategist, social entrepreneur and a global youth advocate. Known for his work as a community organizer and Co-chair of Gen44 for former US president, Barack Obama, in the historic 2008 and 2012 presidential elections.
His entrepreneurial work in creating enterprises such as “Jeufzone Farms” and “Akon Lighting Africa”, where he was successful in providing electricity to millions of African households and communities through sustainable solar energy, is just one of his many successes in the last decade.
Thione Niang’s “GIVE1PROJECT” strives to promote global leadership and entrepreneurship for the next generation of leaders. Through international incubation centres and women empowerment, Thinoe’s words are now encouraging thousands of young individuals in 34 countries around the world to be the change they want to see in the world.
The event was held as a collaboration between Mr Thinoe Niang and the Pasona Group to help foster international relations with Awaji island and help provide guidance for the young people present at the event.
‘David Kpondehou’
AYF’s first generation Fellow, David Kpondehou, was instrumental in creating this opportunity to be able to have Thione here and learn from him. Thanks to David’s dedication and hard work throughout and after the AYF program, Pasona is able to further its efforts to revitalise Awaji Island and have it become a global hub of excellence for a truly international community.
A portion of the seminar can be found on Facebook, where it was live-streamed to an audience of over 170,000 social media followers. The video showcases Thione giving fellows the chance to ask questions regarding his thoughts on social entrepreneurship and learn from his years of experience.
Find the recording of the live event over on Thione Niang’s Facebook page
‘Seminar Attendees’
Although brief, Thione visit to Awaji has helped inspire fellows to keep pushing forward with their projects and dreams, despite the challenges or obstacles that are sure to arise in the pursuit of success.
We look forward to potential collaborations with Thione in the future and support him whole heartily in our shared vision of encouraging the next generation of leaders as they seek to solve society’s problems.
If you are interested in being able to take part in these exclusive opportunities to meet and network with thought leaders from across the global, apply to be part of the next generation of AYF fellows Here!
