American R&B singer, Akon, is building Akon City, a real life “Wakanda nation” in his home country of Senegal.
Wakanda is a technologically advanced futuristic nation depicted in the Marvel blockbuster movie titled ” Black Panther”.
According to the singer, Akon city is going to be a hi tech city that will run on a completely different currency from that of its host country. The cryptocurrency is called Akoin.
Akatarian learnt that Akon city is solar powered. It will have healthcare facilities, offices, luxury houses, shopping malls, skyscrapers and eco friendly centres.
Akon revealed at the launch that the idea is to build a futuristic city with latest technologies. The city is going to be an example of how African society should look like in the future.
Location of Akon City
The estimated $6 billion city is on a 2,000 acres of land gifted to the singer by the president of Senegal, Macky Sall.
The city is located in Mbodiene park, about 100 kilometers from Dakar, Senegal’s capital. And it’s a 5 minutes drive from the country’s new international airport.
Akon’s full name is Aliaume Damala Badara Akon Thiam, disclosed that he actually conceived the idea before the Black Panther movie was released.
Apart from singing, Akon is a philanthropist and an entrepreneur.
Akon further disclosed that the $6 billion proposed for the project is ready but refused to disclose his investors.
Senegal’s minister for tourism, Alioune Sarr applauded Akon’s idea of coming to invest in his country especially during this time of Covid-19. Economies of the world, including Senegal’s are struggling to stay afloat this period.
Anticipated challenges
Akon was however criticized especially because only 16.2 million people in Senegal has a smartphone, which is one third of Senegal’s total population.This is according to a 2018 report by Pew Research Centre.
The digital currency Akoin, that the city is to trade on is tied to cellphone minutes. Akoin will rely solely on the use of smartphones unlike other digital currencies.
This is because, Africans trust the cellphone companies more than their governments. Akon said that the currency will make Africans less dependent on their government.
Akon city is expected to be completed in 10 years, and its second phase is to commence in 2025.
US based Engineering company, LEED is the construction company in charge of the project.
“Akon Lighting Africa”, launched in 2014, is part of Akon’s for-profit projects in Africa.
The project is targeted at providing low cost solar powered electricity to 600 million Africans. It is in partnership with World bank and is functional in 25 African countries.
