Akon City
French: Ville d'Akon Wolof: Dëkku Akon
Planned city
Construction site of the Akon City Welcome Centre, December 2023
Construction site of the Akon City Welcome Centre, December 2023
Akon City is located in Senegal
Akon City
Akon City is located in Africa
Akon City
Coordinates: 14°14′N 16°52′W / 14.23°N 16.87°W / 14.23; -16.87
Country  Senegal
Region Thiès Region
Department M'bour Department
Establishment 2026 (planned first phase)
Founded by
  • Akon (creatively)
  • Senegalese government (fiscally)
Time zone UTC+0 (GMT)

Akon City was a proposed planned community in the M'bour Department of Senegal conceived by Senegalese-American singer and entrepreneur Aliaune Damala Bouga Time Puru Nacka Lu Lu Lu Badara Akon Thiam, known professionally as Akon. The project was first announced in 2018.[1] Akon cited the film Black Panther as an inspiration for the project and described Akon City as a "real-life Wakanda" which was to utilize modern technologies including blockchain and cryptocurrency.[2]

Akon stated in October 2022 that construction of the city's first phase would begin in 2023 and be completed in 2028; however as of July 2025 the only structure which had been erected was the partially-completed welcome center. On July 4, 2025, the BBC reported that the project had been abandoned.[3]

History

Akon discussing Akoin at WebSummit in Lisbon
Akon discussing Akoin at WebSummit in Lisbon

Conception

Akon announced the launch of Akoin, a cryptocurrency, at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in 2018. On January 15, 2020, Akon announced plans for Akon City, a planned community for which Akoin was to serve as the central currency. In September 2020, Akon unveiled a rendering of a planned development for a futuristic city located along the Atlantic coast[4] near the rural farming village of Mbodiène, 100 km (62 mi) south of Dakar.[5] The project was planned with the support of Senegal's tourism development agency, SAPCO-Sénégal (La Société d'Aménagement et de Promotion des Côtes et Zones Touristiques du Sénégal).[6] Akon raised a portion of the funding for Akon City by selling Tokens of Appreciation (TOA) in a campaign that ended in October 2019; each US$1 donated would be converted to up to four TOA, which would later be converted to Akoin.[6] Akon reported that this campaign raised a total of $290,000 towards the project.[6] By August 2020 Akon had reportedly secured around one-third of the estimated $6 billion needed to fund the project but declined to specify the source of the investments.[7]

Economy

Akon envisioned Akoin to be the central currency of Akon City;[8][9][10][11][12] however the Central Bank of West African States, which regulates and issues Senegal's official currency, the CFA franc, described the use of an alternative currency as illegal.[13]

Proposed design

The planned city was to feature condominiums, offices, luxury high-rise apartment complexes, a university, a casino, an ocean resort, boating docks, recording studios, and a tech hub.[14][15][16] Among the planned amenities were a 10,000 bed hospital, a hotel in which each room was to feature decorations inspired by one of the countries of Africa, and a zone dubbed "Senewood" envisioned as a site of development for the nation's film industry.[14][7] Later renderings included fewer skyscrapers but retained a futuristic design.[6] Akon cited traditional African sculpture as an inspiration for the curvaceous design of the city.[7]

Akon City was designed by 10 Design, an architectural rendering company with headquarters in Asia. The project was proposed as a ten-year project with mixed-use development. Its stated primary goal was to stimulate the local economy and to create jobs for local workers.[17][18] Akon also expressed hope that the city would attract diaspora tourists to Senegal.[7] Akon envisioned Akon City as an eco-friendly smart city powered by renewable energy. It was an LEED-certified project.

Akon City was developed by Los Angeles–based KE International and Dubai-based Bakri & Associates Development Consultants. Hussein Bakri, the CEO of Bakri & Associates, was the lead architect.[9][19]

As originally announced, Akon City was to consist of two phases of development:

Phase 1: Projected to be completed by 2023, this phase was to consist of roads, a hospital campus, a shopping mall, residential estates, hotels, a police station, a school, a waste facility, parks, and a photovoltaic solar power plant.[20]

In an October 2022 interview with DJ Vlad, Akon predicted that Phase 1 would be completed by 2026.[21]

Phase 2: Projected to be completed between 2024 and 2029.

Second proposed site

On April 6, 2021, a second project site in Uganda was announced by Akon alongside Dr. Chris Baryomunsi, the state minister for Housing and Urban Development, following discussions with Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni.[22][23][24] This was to be constructed on one square mile of land allotted in the Mukono District in Mpuge sub-county.[25] Akon discussed the entire 15-year development project and its proposed benefits to Ugandans in an interview on Uganda's NBS TV with Canary Mugume.[26]

Delays and Cancellation

As of December 2022, no construction work had taken place on the site aside from a foundation stone laid in a ceremony in 2020. In an interview with the BBC, both Akon and SAPCO affirmed that the project was still slated for completion, with Akon blaming the COVID-19 pandemic for delays in the project, stating that the projected timeline for the project had been pushed back by two years.[6] As of February 2024, the project had barely begun construction, with only one building, the Welcome Center, being partially complete.[27]

In August 2024, SAPCO issued Akon an ultimatum to initiate his project or return 90% of the land that had been granted to him. The ultimatum was issued by General Manager Serigne Mboup in response to Akon failing to fulfill several payments to SAPCO.[28] By that time the value of the Akoin cryptocurrency had fallen from $0.15 at launch in 2020 to $0.003.[29]

As of July 2025, the Akon City project had been officially shelved. On July 4, 2025, the BBC reported that Akon was working with authorities from SAPCO on new plans to develop the site.[3]

Controversy

Two years after the Token of Appreciation Funding campaign concluded, investors were given the opportunity to receive a refund in USD in lieu of the proposed Akoins; however as of December 2022 many investors reported that they had not yet been refunded.[6]

The land on which Akon City was to be built was earmarked for future tourism developments in 2009. In of August 2024 some former landowners reported that they had yet to be compensated by SAPCO for use of the land.[29]

The allocation of land in Uganda for a second city to be conceptualized by Akon has drawn controversy from some residents in Mpunge Sub-county, who report that they were not consulted about the reallocation of their land.[25]

A lawsuit has been brought against Akon in the United States by a former business partner, DeVyne Stephens, for a debt of almost $4 million (USD) borrowed as part of the implementation of his futuristic city project. Akon's team has disputed Stephens' claims as "innuendo and speculation".[30] In April 2022, part of the lawsuit was settled for $850,000.[27]

See also

  • NEOM
  • Bitcoin City
  • Próspera
  • Asgardia
  • Fordlandia
  • Telosa
  • Epcot

References

  1. ^ Adepoju, Paul (June 25, 2018). "Musician Akon is creating a futuristic city and his own cryptocurrency in Senegal". CNN. Retrieved December 14, 2023.
  2. ^ Pires, Samantha (December 26, 2020). "Singer Akon is Spending $6 Billion to Build a 'Real-Life Wakanda' in Senegal". mymodernmet.com.
  3. ^ a b Négoce, Nicolas (July 4, 2025). "Akon's futuristic $6bn city project in Senegal abandoned, BBC told". BBC. Retrieved July 4, 2025.
  4. ^ Paquette, Danielle (September 1, 2020). "Akon just unveiled his $6 billion 'futuristic' city in Senegal. The reviews are mixed". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
  5. ^ Peyton, Nellie (December 14, 2020). Griffiths, Lyndsay (ed.). "Future or fantasy? Senegal questions 'Akon City'". Thomson Reuters Foundation.
  6. ^ a b c d e f Griffin, Jonathan (December 24, 2022). "Akon's Wakanda, grazing goats and a crumbling crypto dream". BBC News. Retrieved December 24, 2022.
  7. ^ a b c d "R&B singer Akon moves ahead with 'Akon City' in Senegal". AP News. August 31, 2020. Retrieved May 30, 2026.
  8. ^ Adepoju, Paul (June 25, 2018). "Musician Akon is creating a futuristic city and his own cryptocurrency in Senegal". CNN.com.
  9. ^ a b Smithson, Aaron (December 31, 2020). "Akon moves ahead with crypto city in Senegal despite skepticism". The Architect’s Newspaper.
  10. ^ Akinwotu, Emmanuel (September 1, 2020). "Music mogul Akon going ahead with futuristic 'Akon City' in Senegal". theguardian.com.
  11. ^ Lynn, Samara (November 15, 2018). "Akon's Tech Utopia". Black Enterprise.
  12. ^ Salaudeen, Aisha (September 2, 2020). "R&B singer Akon is building a 'real-life Wakanda' worth $6 billion in Senegal". CNN.com.
  13. ^ Kobo, Kingsley (April 10, 2021). "Akon wants to run a Senegal city on cryptocurrency—could it work?". Quartz. Retrieved December 24, 2022.
  14. ^ a b Engineering, Blavity (October 19, 2022). "Akon Says The First Phase Of Akon City Will Open In 2026, Reveals City Will House Africa's Largest Hospital". AfroTech. Retrieved May 30, 2026.
  15. ^ Agbetiloye, Adekunle (August 2, 2024). "Singer Akon gets final notice to begin $6 billion futuristic city or forfeit land". Business Insider Africa. Retrieved May 30, 2026.
  16. ^ AfricaNews. "Singer Akon's Senegalese 'Wakanda' city unstarted, locals left in dark | Africanews". Africanews. Archived from the original on December 2, 2025. Retrieved May 30, 2026.
  17. ^ Srikanth, Anagha (December 28, 2020). "Singer Akon is raising $6B to build a real-life Wakanda straight out of the movie 'Black Panther'". The Hill.
  18. ^ "Senegal's Tourism Gets Huge Boost from 'Akon City' Project". hotelandtourismonline.com. August 12, 2020. Archived from the original on April 13, 2021.
  19. ^ Takouleu, Jean Marie (September 6, 2020). "SENEGAL: Akon City, the Green City Project is launched at a cost of $6 billion". Afrik21.
  20. ^ Cuordifede, Célia (August 16, 2024). "The 'Akon City' mirage fades in Senegal". Le Monde. Retrieved February 4, 2025.
  21. ^ Yates, Shanique (October 19, 2022). "Akon Says The First Phase Of Akon City Will Open In 2026, Reveals City Will House Africa's Largest Hospital". AfroTech. Retrieved December 24, 2022.
  22. ^ Manns, Keydra (April 5, 2021). "Akon to build second futuristic city in Uganda". TheGrio.com. Retrieved April 9, 2021.
  23. ^ Hamilton, Xavier (April 5, 2021). "Akon Set to Build Futuristic, Cryptocurrency-Based City in Uganda". Complex. Retrieved April 9, 2021.
  24. ^ Farzan, Antonia Noori (April 6, 2021). "Akon hasn't even built his first 'futuristic' city yet, but Uganda is giving him land for a second". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved April 9, 2021.
  25. ^ a b Sseryazi, Herbert. "Govt resurrects plans to allocate land to Akon". Nilepost News. Retrieved May 30, 2026.
  26. ^ Kazibwe, Kenneth (April 6, 2021). "Akon explains his futuristic city and how it will benefit Ugandans". Nile Post. Retrieved April 9, 2021.
  27. ^ a b Khan, Aina J. (December 4, 2023). "Akon City: tumbleweed rolls through site of rapper's Wakanda-inspired dream". The Guardian. Mbodiène.
  28. ^ Hoije, Katarina; Ojambo, Fred (August 2, 2024). "Singer Akon's Multibillion-Dollar Futuristic City in Africa Gets Final Notice". bloomberg.com. Retrieved September 27, 2024.
  29. ^ a b Dan-Awoh, Deborah (August 3, 2024). "Singer Akon's $6 Billion futuristic African City project gets final warning deadline". nairametrics.com. Retrieved September 27, 2024.
  30. ^ Bell, Breanna (March 10, 2022). "Akon Accused of Running 'Ponzi Schemes'". popculture.com.