By Samuel Abuya
The US-based Senegalese pop star, Akon, has finalized an agreement to build a city named after him in Senegal – ‘Akon City’, in a five minutes drive outside the country’s capital, Dakar.
Reports indicate that the crypto-city, which according to the singer will use his own cryptocurrency called ‘ Akoin’, has already been approved by Senegal’s government-owned SAPCO tourism company. The city will sit on a 2,000 acres piece of land which the Senegalese President Macky Sall gifted the singer with.
Akon City will be an eco-tourism destination that will purely rely on and use renewable energy thanks to the rapper’s solar power project – Akon Lighting Africa. The city’s proximity to the country’s Leopold Sedar Senghoro International Airport is expected to play a huge role growing it rapidly.
While speaking to Nick Canon late last year, Akon said construction of the initial phase of the city had already started and that its second phase would start by the year 2025. He also pointed out that Akon city will take an estimated ten years to be complete and ready for visitors from all over the world.
As of now, there is scanty information on the nitty-gritties of the Akon city but it is expected to be a futuristic city and an innovation hub.
“When I travel, I see so many things that happen, so many people that need assistance and so many things that need to be resolved,” Akon told Nick in the interview.
Akon took to his social media platforms to announce the launch of the new city.
He tweeted: “Just finalized the agreement for AKON CITY in Senegal. Looking forward to hosting you there in the future.”
A statement released by the Senegalese tourism ministry said “Akon wanted to put up a sustainable ecotourism village that would campaign for the environment”. It also read: “Beyond his status as an artist, it is Akon, the investor who believes in Africa.”
The singer had also talked about the project in 2018 when speaking to Newsweek saying with ‘Akoin’, they will be building cities and the first one would be in Senegal. By then, according to the artist, he was securing land and “closing out all the legislation papers for the city”.
Akon hopes to scale the project outside Senegal, to other African countries.
The singer describes the ‘Akoin’ as a cryptocurrency that will unite the entire Africa continent.
Akon, who shot to fame in the music industry in 2005 with his hit “Lonely”, was born in St. Louis, Mo., but has Senegalese roots. He lived in Senegal until he was seven years old.
