Authorities in Senegal have officially abandoned Akon’s $6 billion futuristic pan-African city project and have reclaimed most of the land that was to be used for it, according to a report by Bloomberg.
Akon, in 2018, described his smart city project as “a real-life Wakanda” in reference to the Afro-futuristic city in Marvel’s movie, Black Panther. The Locked Up singer, who spent most of his childhood in the West African nation, announced that the city will use a cryptocurrency called AKoin.
Despite the impact of the coronavirus on the global economy in 2020, he assured that he was going ahead with his plans to construct the city. He told the Associated Press that the construction of the $6 billion project will commence in 2021.
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Providing more details about the project, the musician said he hoped it would create jobs for locals in the West African nation as well as serve as a “home back home” for Black Americans and other people in the diaspora who are being racially discriminated against.
The singer, who traveled to the site of the project in Mbodienne with government officials in August 2020, said he had been able to acquire one-third of the $6 billion needed for the project. He, however, did not reveal the investors, saying non-disclosure agreements are in effect. The project was expected to be completed by 2023 but has since faced significant challenges and delays.
The Senegalese government had not been happy about the project’s delay. Through the state-owned Sapco-Senegal, which is responsible for coastal and tourism development, the government issued an ultimatum to Akon in September 2024 to commence substantial construction work or risk losing the majority of the land allocated for the project. Currently, only a youth center, basketball court, and an information center can be found on the site.
The Senegalese government has now officially scrapped the project in favor of a scaled-down $1.2 billion resort development, Bloomberg reported.
The privately funded development project features hotels, residential apartments, a marina and promenade, with the goal of making Mbodiène “a true engine of growth”, according to a presentation shared by Sapco.
Even though the Akon city won’t see the light of day, the singer has retained 8 hectares of land that will form part of a more “realistic” development project that the Senegalese government supports.
