Akon’s futuristic city plan in Senegal is no longer happening.
The government has officially canceled the deal and taken back the land where the $6 billion cryptocurrency-powered “Akon City” was supposed to be built.
The project, once pitched as a “real-life Wakanda,” was meant to rise along Senegal’s Atlantic Coast and serve as a cultural and technological hub powered by Akon’s own AKOIN cryptocurrency.
Back in 2020, Akon secured the land and launched phase one, which included plans for roads, a hospital, mall, police station, school, power plant, and more. That phase was scheduled to be done by the end of 2023. Phase two was supposed to include universities, parks, a stadium, and an industrial zone, all fully integrated with AKOIN by 2029.
But none of it happened. The land sat untouched, and after seven years of missed deadlines and growing frustration from local residents, the Senegalese government pulled the plug.
Serigne Mamadou Mboup, president of Sapco-Senegal, confirmed, “The project no longer exists.”
Sapco, the state-owned company in charge of coastal development, is moving forward with its own plans for the land. A new $1.2 billion initiative will turn the area into a tourism destination with hotels, apartments, a marina, and a waterfront promenade that connects to a nearby lagoon.
Despite the major setback, Akon is still holding onto a piece of the dream. He retains eight hectares of land from the original site for a new project expected to cover over 500 hectares.
“What Akon’s preparing with us is a realistic project, which Sapco will fully support,” Mboup explained.
Akon himself admitted things went wrong early on. Speaking to AllHipHop’s Chuck Creekmur last year, he said, “My biggest thing was I promoted it way, way, way too early.” He added, “Anything that exciting that would change a culture, people will naturally want to know what’s happening right now, assuming that it’s already happening. But it was in a process of creating.”
For now, the future of Akon’s other proposed city in Uganda remains unclear. But in Senegal, the dream of Akon City is officially over.
