Camilla Jessen
The singer once promised a “Wakanda-style” utopia powered by his own cryptocurrency.
After nearly seven years of hype, delays, and confusion, Akon’s ambitious plan to build a $6 billion futuristic city in Senegal has come to an end.
The project, known as Akon City, was first announced in 2018 as a crypto-powered smart city on the Atlantic coast of West Africa.
Residents would use a digital currency called Akoin, and the city would include everything from a hospital and police station to a shopping mall and solar power grid.
But years later, the promised land remains empty.
According to Senegal’s tourism development agency, Sapco, the deal has officially been scrapped.
“The Akon City project no longer exists,” said Serigne Mamadou Mboup, Sapco’s director, to Unilad.
He added that a new and more realistic project with Akon may be in the works instead.
Locals were left disappointed
Akon, whose real name is Alioune Badara Thiam, had promised jobs and a new era of innovation for the area of Mbodiène.
Instead, locals are looking at an empty field and a half-built welcome center.
“We were promised jobs and development,” one resident told the BBC. “Instead, nothing has changed.”
Akon once described the project as “100,000 percent moving,” but construction never made it past the early stages.
Despite a flashy 3D model and worldwide media attention, the land still has no roads, no power, and no buildings — aside from the now-abandoned reception building.
The crypto angle raised eyebrows
At the heart of the city’s economic plan was Akoin, the singer’s own digital currency.
But experts and investors raised concerns from the beginning.
Senegal uses the CFA franc, a currency regulated by the Central Bank of West African States, which doesn’t allow cryptocurrencies to be used as legal tender.
Even Akon admitted that the project wasn’t being handled properly. He struggled to repay investors and acknowledged that the management of both the city and the Akoin cryptocurrency had been flawed.
The city was supposed to be completed in phases, with key infrastructure ready by the end of 2023. Those plans included a school, waste center, and even a solar plant.
Now, the land is being looked at for other developments ahead of the 2026 Youth Olympic Games, which Senegal is set to host.
This article is made and published by Camilla Jessen, who may have used AI in the preparation
