The Senegalese government has officially ditched a land deal with American-Senegalese singer Akon, effectively halting his ambitious plan to build a futuristic, cryptocurrency-powered city dubbed “Akon City.”
The project, first announced in 2018, promised a $6 billion “real-life Wakanda”, a high-tech utopia powered by renewable energy and using Akon’s own digital currency, AKoin.
The city was to be built on 550 hectares of land near the coastal village of Mbodiene, about 100 km from Dakar.
However, seven years later, the site remains undeveloped. Local officials and residents have expressed growing frustration over the lack of progress. In June 2024, Senegal’s tourism minister confirmed that the government had reclaimed the land, citing the project’s failure to meet contractual obligations
Akon, whose real name is Aliaune Thiam, envisioned the city as a beacon of innovation and economic empowerment for Africa. He claimed the project would create thousands of jobs and attract global investment. The city was to feature luxury housing, a hospital, a university, and even its own police force, all operating on AKoin.
However, critics pointed to vague timelines, lack of transparency, and questions about financing. Akon had said the project would be funded through a mix of private investment and cryptocurrency, but no major backers were ever publicly confirmed.
Akon has not publicly reacted to the cancellation, but in previous interviews, he acknowledged delays and blamed the COVID-19 pandemic and economic instability for slowing progress.
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