- Akon’s $6 billion Akon City project has been marred by delays and challenges, with the first phase falling short of expectations
- Various legal issues surrounding the project and the land have led to just one building being built in five years
- Akon maintains support for the project, which will operate on the blockchain
Akon’s ambitious $6 billion Akon City project, envisioned as an Afrofuturistic metropolis in Senegal inspired by Wakanda, faces significant challenges and delays, according to a recent news report. Initially unveiled five years ago, the Guardian reports that the first construction phase was expected to conclude by the end of 2023, but the reality is a solitary white concrete building in Mbodiène, Senegal. The project, initiated by the US-Senegalese R&B singer Akon and supposed to run on his Akoin cryptocurrency, has been plagued by legal issues, although the man himself still stands by the project.
$6 Billion Construction Contract Signed in 2020
Akon first announced his plans to create Akon City in 2018, with the 2,000 acres on which he planned to build the city gifted to him in early 2018 by the President of Senegal, although the actual location had still to be confirmed. A $6 billion construction deal was signed in June 2020 with US-based consulting and engineering firm KE International given the task of fulfilling Akon’s ambitious dream: a futuristic 2,000-acre smart city run on solar power, with blockchain technology and his Akoin token underpinning the ‘soft’ infrastructure, and a launch date of 2030.
However, things have not gone to plan for the artist since those heady days. Devyne Stephens, a former business partner, filed a $4 million lawsuit against Akon in 2021, alleging unpaid funds from a 2018 settlement, with Stephens further claiming that Akon City was “likely a scam.”. Akon denied the allegations and settled part of the lawsuit by paying $850,000, attributing delays to the COVID-19 pandemic, and, in December 2022, affirmed that plans were still progressing.
Akon Losing State Support
State support, so vital for the project, has vanished following the gifting of the land, with the Society for the Development and Promotion of Coasts and Tourist Zones (Sapco) threatening to call in its $2 million loan if there is no significant progress by the next year.
Land rights issues have also contributed to the project’s complications, with the land finally earmarked for Akon City having been ceded to the Senegalese state in 2009 for tourism development, leading to compensation disputes. Some residents have yet to be compensated, with allegations directed at Sapco for land acquisition from villagers.
Despite the challenges, Akon has fulfilled one condition from the villagers by constructing a youth center in Mbodiène. The center and a welcome center are the only visible signs of construction, casting doubts on the project’s feasibility and raising questions about its potential impact on the local economy.
