Akon City: The singer’s plan to build a Wakanda-like city in Senegal
Popular singer Akon has announced his plans to create a supercity packed with skyscrapers. Akon City is planned to cover 2,000 acres near the Atlantic Ocean village of Mbodiene in Senegal.
Akon has described the futuristic city as a “real-life Wakanda.” According to CNN, the singer says the city in his native Senegal will cost around $6 billion (Rs 49,630 crore) and have ‘stunning architecture’.
Akon City, which is aiming to be self-powered and environmentally friendly, is planned to have luxury condos, resorts, and a university — all constructed from locally-sourced materials. The city will have a hotel and a corporate tower which the RnB singer has dubbed the “Akon Tower.”
Akon added that his city will also have boating docks, a food and beverage store, a 10,000 bed hospital, music studios, and tourist resorts. According to BBC, the first phase of the city includes roads, a campus, a mall, residences, hotels, a police station, a school, a waste facility, and a solar power plant.
Akon previously said the city, which he initially dubbed ‘Crypto city’, would run on a cryptocurrency named ‘Akoin’. Prior to its launch, Akon announced a Token of Appreciation (TOA) campaign that allowed people to donate money — which would later be converted into Akoin.
Akoin was launched on Bitmart in September 2021 with a value of $0.28 (over Rs 27). Today, its value is just $0.012 (Rs 0.99).
Despite numerous disruptions, Akon told BBC that his ambitious project is “moving forward.” However, the land remains “completely empty” with no sign of building and only “goats present there.”
But Akon remains defiant and told the British outlet the excavation work on the land will finally be starting before the end of this year.