5 days ago
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Akon‘s plan to build a $6 billion Akon City in Senegal, supported by his own Akoin cryptocurrency, is not working out. Even the best-laid plans, amirite?
The 2018 proposal imagined a virtuous cycle of economic investment in the Republic of Senegal. Graphic representations depicted curving skyscrapers, as both singer and country cultivated comparisons to the Wakanda of Black Panther.
Now the BBC has officially confirmed what anyone following the story has long suspected: It’s not going to happen. Instead, the singer and his home country will focus on a more “realistic” project.
“The Akon City project no longer exists,” according to Serigne Mamadou Mboup, the head of Senegal’s tourism development body, Sapco. “Fortunately, an agreement has been reached between Sapco and the entrepreneur [Akon] Alioune Badara Thiam. What he’s preparing with us is a realistic project, which Sapco will fully support.”
Before it was called off, construction had got as far as an incomplete reception building without roads, water, or power.
Akon broke out with his 2004 hit “Lonely,” and subsequent blockbuster singles including “Smack That” with Eminem, “Don’t Matter,” and “I Wanna Love You” featuring Snoop Dogg made him an international star. But you can count on two hands the number of musicians who’ve turned their millions into billions — and despite his accomplishments, Akon would be an opener for all of them.
The scheme always depended on his Akoin becoming the next big cryptocurrency, which would have required better luck — and better financial instincts. “It wasn’t being managed properly,” Akon conceded in 2022. “I take full responsibility for that.”
Since then, Akon has prepared for a return to music, releasing a few 2025 singles ahead of a new album.
English (US) · 