Akon‘s plans to build a futuristic city in Senegal might have been scrapped, but the land that was supposed to house it apparently won’t be going to waste.
Back in 2020, the “Locked Up” hitmaker secured a $6 billion contract to build a cryptocurrency-themed city dubbed “Akon City” along Senegal’s Atlantic Coast.
The first phase, which was supposed to include the construction of roads, a Hamptons Hospital campus, Hamptons Mall, a police station, a waste facility, a school and a power plant, was expected to be completed by the end of 2023.
Phase 2 was scheduled to end in 2029 and was set to focus on integrating businesses to run on Akon’s AKOIN cryptocurrency. There was also meant to be parks, a stadium, universities and an industrial complex in Akon City.
However, land set aside for the project was recently given back to the state after Akon failed to deliver on his promise. Serigne Mamadou Mboup, head of Sapco-Senegal, confirmed the singer’s project “no longer exists.”
According to Bloomberg, last year, Sapco gave Akon a two weeks to begin work on his futuristic city or risk forfeiting the land. Most of the real estate in Mbodiène, which is about 50 miles southeast of Senegal’s capital, Dakar, was reclaimed after Akon missed payments to Sapco.
Now, Sapco has revealed that it plans to spend 665 billion CFA francs ($1.2 billion) transforming the area into a tourism hotspot made up of hotels and apartments, as well as a marina and promenade that connects the area to a nearby lagoon.
According to a presentation shared by Sapco, the goal of the travel hub is to “make Mbodiène a true engine of growth.”
Despite dropping the ball on his crypto city, Akon has retained eight hectares of land from Sapco that will lend itself to a bigger project that will cover over 500 hectares. “What Akon’s preparing with us is a realistic project, which Sapco will fully support,” Mboup said.
It’s unclear if Akon’s plans to build a futuristic city in Uganda have been affected by the collapse of his Senegal initiative.
