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Business Insider
09-07-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
Senegal scraps Akon's $6 billion city project for $1.2 billion state-backed tourism hub
Senegal has officially cancelled R&B singer Akon's ambitious plans to build a multibillion-dollar city along the country's Atlantic coast, replacing it with a more modest, privately funded development in light of economic pressures. Senegal has canceled Akon's proposed Akon City project due to insufficient progress and financial complications. Akon City was intended to be a $6 billion futuristic smart city transforming Mbodiène into a tech hub. The land initially allocated for Akon City will now host a $1.2 billion scaled-back tourism development managed by Sapco. Senegal has officially cancelled R&B singer Akon's ambitious plans to build a multibillion-dollar city along the country's Atlantic coast, replacing it with a more modest, privately funded development in light of economic pressures. In 2020, Senegal granted Akon 136 acres of land to build his ambitious 'Akon City', a futuristic smart city envisioned to transform the quiet farming village of Mbodiène into a tech-driven urban hub. Last August, Akon received a final formal notice from the Senegalese government to commence construction on his proposed $6 billion futuristic city or risk losing the land. The notice followed missed payments to Sapco, the state-owned agency tasked with developing coastal and tourism zones. Now, the government has reclaimed most of the land originally allocated for the project inspired by Marvel's fictional Wakanda after little progress was made, according to Bloomberg. 'That project no longer exists,' said Serigne Mamadou Mboup, head of Sapco-Senegal, the state agency responsible for developing coastal and tourism zones, in comments to Senegal's national press agency. The land will now be used for a scaled-back project led by Sapco, Senegal's coastal development agency, which plans to invest 665 billion CFA francs ($1.2 billion) to transform the area into a major tourism hub. Funding amid fiscal strain The government expects to raise 600 billion CFA francs from private investors, with the remaining 65 billion CFA francs to come from state funds. However, Senegal's recent debt crisis, following the discovery of $7 billion in previously undisclosed liabilities, could pose challenges for fundraising. Akon will retain 8 hectares of land, which will be integrated into a broader 500-hectare development backed by Sapco. Despite the downsized scope, authorities say the new project will still deliver some of the benefits originally promised. Sapco estimates that the first phase could generate around 15,000 jobs, offering much-needed economic momentum for Mbodiène and nearby communities.
Straits Times
09-07-2025
- Business
- Straits Times
Singer Akon's $7.7 billion ‘Wakanda' futuristic city dream crumbles in Senegal
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox R&B singer Akon' failed to deliver on his dream of a real-life Wakanda in the debt-stricken country. Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire – Senegal scrapped R&B singer Akon's plans for a US$6 billion (S$7.7 billion) futuristic city on the country's Atlantic Coast, and opted for a scaled-back project in the debt-stricken country that will rely on private funding. Announced in 2018 as a tech-driven, eco-friendly utopia for the global Black community with its own cryptocurrency, initial designs for Akon City, with its boldly curvaceous skyscrapers, were compared by commentators to the awe-inspiring fictional city of Wakanda in Marvel's Black Panther films and comic books. But after five years of setbacks, the 800-hectare site in Mbodiene - about 100km south of the capital, Dakar - remains mostly empty. The only structure is an incomplete reception building. There are no roads, no housing, no power grid, the BBC reported. That project 'no longer exists,' Serigne Mamadou Mboup, head of Sapco-Senegal, the state-owned entity that develops coastal and tourism areas, told L'Agence de presse sénégalaise. In 2024, Sapco gave Akon two weeks to begin work on the development or risk forfeiting the land. Most of it was reclaimed after Akon missed payments to Sapco. Meanwhile the star's Akoin cryptocurrency has struggled to repay its investors over the years, with Akon, Senegalese-American, conceding: 'It wasn't being managed properly - I take full responsibility for that.' Sapco now plans to spend 665 billion CFA francs (S$1.5 billion) turning the area into a tourism hub with hotels, apartments, a marina and promenade connecting the area to a nearby lagoon. The project is being developed as Senegal deals with a debt crisis that emerged after a state audit found that former President Macky Sall's administration accumulated US$7 billion (S$9 billion) of previously unreported loans. The so-called hidden liabilities restricted the West African nation's access to global credit markets and led the International Monetary Fund to freeze US$1.8 billion of funding. The government expects its plan will deliver on part of the original promise, with about 15,000 jobs expected in the first phase, according to Sapco. The new plan may finally offer opportunity for local investment, jobs and a reason for young people to stay, said Jean Wally Sene, a school teacher and resident of Mbodiène. 'For a very long time, people, including Akon, have been coming here trying to sell us dreams and illusions,' Ms Sene said. 'Finally, there's a dream for Mbodiène that we dare to believe in.' BLOOMBERG
Daily Mirror
08-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Epic £4bn seaside city with bendy skyscraper designed by Akon suffers huge blow
Celebrity singer-songerwriter Akon has been left red-faced after his ambitious plans to build a futuristic seaside city to the tune of £4.4bn has descended into chaos Ambitious plans to build an uber-futuristic city by the coast to the tune of $6 billion (£4.4bn) has hit a major setback. Bizarrely spearheaded by singer-songwriter Alioune Badara Thiam (commonly known as Akon), the mega project aimed to transform an 800-hectare site in Mbodiène - a seaside city in Senegal, Africa - into a modern metropolis run entirely on renewable energy. Mock prints of the development - which has been compared to the fictional city of Wakanda from the Marvel universe - show an unusually bendy skyscraper dominating the centre, alongside a slew of equally Black Mirror-esque buildings and green spaces. Back in 2022, the Smack That star said his eponymously named 'Akon City', was '100,000 per cent moving' despite no significant construction following the initial launch ceremony. Phase one of the bold development was supposed to see a hospital, shopping mall, police station, school, waste station and solar plant all completed by the end of 2023. However, after five years of constant setbacks, it's clear Akon City remains a mere dream - as the site in Mbodiène remains 'mostly empty'. It is said the only structure in place is an 'incomplete reception building'; roads, housing, and even a power grid have yet to be established in the area - provoking outrage from those living nearby. "We were promised jobs and development," one local resident told the BBC. "Instead, nothing has changed." Serigne Mamadou Mboup, head of Senegal's tourism development body, Sapco, confirmed to the publication that Akon City 'no longer exists'. Officials blamed a lack of funding and halted construction efforts for the project being shelved. However, it says it has now reached an agreement with the celeb - who spent his childhood between Senegal and the US - to produce a more 'realistic project' that can still benefit the area. Specific details on how much the project would cost, or when it is expected to be finished, have yet to be confirmed. When Akon City was announced, plans for residents to use a brand new cryptocurrency called Akoin as as their primary payment method were also unveiled. According to the BBC, there have been questions over whether this would even be legal, as Senegal currently uses the CFA franc, which is both regulated and issued by the Central Bank of West African States. Akoin has also struggled to repay its investors over the years, with Akon reportedly admitting: "It wasn't being managed properly. I take full responsibility for that."
BBC News
04-07-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Akon's futuristic $6bn city project in Senegal abandoned, BBC told
10 Design Architecture Plans for a futuristic city in Senegal dreamt up by the singer Akon have been scrapped and instead he will work on something more realistic, officials say. "The Akon City project no longer exists," Serigne Mamadou Mboup, the head of Senegal's tourism development body, Sapco, told the BBC. "Fortunately, an agreement has been reached between Sapco and the entrepreneur Alioune Badara Thiam [aka Akon]. What he's preparing with us is a realistic project, which Sapco will fully support." Known for his string of noughties chart hits, Akon - who was born in the US but partly raised in Senegal - announced two ambitious projects in 2018 that were supposed to represent the future of African society. The first was Akon City - reportedly costed at $6bn (£5bn). It was to run on the second initiative - a brand new cryptocurrency called Akoin. Initial designs for Akon City, with its boldly curvaceous skyscrapers, were compared by commentators to the awe-inspiring fictional city of Wakanda in Marvel's Black Panther films and comic books. But after five years of setbacks, the 800-hectare site in Mbodiène - about 100km (60 miles) south of the capital, Dakar - remains mostly empty. The only structure is an incomplete reception building. There are no roads, no housing, no power grid. "We were promised jobs and development," one local resident told the BBC. "Instead, nothing has changed." Meanwhile the star's Akoin cryptocurrency has struggled to repay its investors over the years, with Akon himself conceding: "It wasn't being managed properly - I take full responsibility for that." There had also been questions over whether it would even be legal for Akoin to operate as the primary payment method for would-be residents of Akon City. Senegal uses the CFA franc, which is regulated and issued by the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO), and like many central banks has expressed opposition to cryptocurrency. The plans for Akon City had been sweeping. 10 Design Architecture Phase one alone was to include a hospital, a shopping mall, a school, a police station, a waste centre, and a solar plant - all by the end of 2023. Sitting on Senegal's Atlantic Coast, Akon's high-tech, eco-friendly city was supposed to run entirely on renewable energy. But despite Akon's insistence in a 2022 BBC interview that the project was "100,000% moving", no significant construction followed the initial launch ceremony. Now the Senegalese government has confirmed what many suspected - the project had stalled beyond recovery. Officials cited a lack of funding and halted construction efforts as key reasons for the decision. Although Akon City as it was originally imagined has been shelved, the government says it is now working with Akon on a more "realistic" development project for the same site. The land near Mbodiène remains of high strategic value, especially with the 2026 Youth Olympic Games approaching and increased tourism activity expected. You may also be interested in: Akon's Wakanda, grazing goats and a crumbling crypto dream Born in France but searching for a future in Africa US basketball training for Senegal cancelled after visas rejected Senegal starts producing oil as president promises benefits Go to for more news from the African continent. Follow us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, on Facebook at BBC Africa or on Instagram at bbcafrica Senegal Africa United States
Metro
04-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Metro
Singer Akon's plans for $6,000,000,000 futuristic 'Wakanda' city ditched
Singer Akon's plans for a $6 billion city in Senegal have been abandoned in favour of something more 'realistic'. Dubbed Akon City, the city would be a high-tech, eco-friendly 'home back home' for African-Americans and other black communities around the world and have its own crypto currency called Akoin. Early designs showed futuristic buildings, including curvaceous skyscrapers, with several people comparing the city to the fictional Wakanda in Marvel's Black Panther films and comics. The Locked up singer, who had a string of hits in the noughties, announced the plans in 2018 and in 2020 said he'd secured funding and had officially bought the land. However, Serigne Mamadou Mboup, the head of Senegal's tourism development body, Sapco, has now told the BBC: 'The Akon City project no longer exists.' He added: 'Fortunately, an agreement has been reached between Sapco and the entrepreneur Alioune Badara Thiam [aka Akon]. What he's preparing with us is a realistic project, which Sapco will fully support.' In 2020 Akon said construction had started, but all that has been built on the 800-hectare site is a reception building, which is only half finished. There are no roads, housing or a power grid. Plans for phase one – that were due to be completed by the end of 2023 – included a hospital, shopping mall, school, police station, a waste centre and a solar plant. The city, 60 miles south of Senegal's capital, Dakar was to be powered solely by renewable energy. Officials reportedly blamed funding, legal and construction issues for the the project's demise. More Trending The value of Akon's cryptocurrency, Akoin, designed to power the economy of the city, also plummeted in value. The singer has previously conceded that it 'wasn't being managed properly', adding 'I take full responsibility for that'. As the country prepares for the arrival of next year's Youth Olympic Games, there are now plans for a more modest development on the Akon City site, which sits along the West African country's coastline. Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: A surprising UK building has just been named one of the world's most beautiful MORE: The dystopian megacity bigger than Scotland where 2,600,000 cameras are always watching
