Akon’s $6 billion plan for a real-life Wakanda on Senegal’s Atlantic Coast “no longer exists,” said Serigne Mamadou Mboup, head of Sapco-Senegal, the state agency overseeing coastal and tourism development.
The country has reclaimed most of the land allocated for “Akon City” after the Senegalese-American singer missed payments, according to Bloomberg.
As Senegal faces a debt crisis following a state audit under former President Macky Sall, the government will move forward with a scaled-down, privately funded $1.2 billion tourism development featuring hotels, apartments, a marina, and a promenade, the outlet reported.
“May this resort serve as a model for success in Senegal, a hub for tourism and a source of economic opportunity,” Mayor Alpha Samb said at a ceremony, according to Bloomberg.
In 2020, Senegal granted Akon 136 acres of land for a 10-year project to transform the farming village of Mbodiène into a solar-powered city that would run on the singer’s cryptocurrency and include a state-of-the-art hospital and university.
Last year, Sapco gave Akon two weeks to begin construction or risk losing the land. So far, the most visible progress is a youth center, a basketball court, and a small information center.
As AFROTECH™ previously reported, Akon said the first phase of construction would begin in 2023 — despite the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic — and that the futuristic city would be livable by 2026.
The initial phase was aimed at tourists, featuring hotels and attractions to give visitors a feel for the city.
“We still have the three-year window for the first phase to be done, and our goal is for the first phase to be done by 2026 to make the junior Olympics in Senegal,” Akon shared in a 2023 interview with VladTV.
According to Bloomberg, Akon has retained eight hectares, or approximately 19 acres, as part of a larger, 500-hectare Sapco-backed tourism development.
“What Akon’s preparing with us is a realistic project, which Sapco will fully support,” Mboup said, per the outlet.
