When news first broke out about Akon’s plans to build a “real-life Wakanda city” powered by cryptocurrency and renewable energy, many thought it was just a ruse for the African-American singer and entrepreneur to stay relevant.
However, recent events have shown that the iconic rapper is indeed serious with his plans to build his own smart city named after himself “Akon City” in Senegal, and it is now official.
Akon Announces “Akon City”
Akon said on Monday via a tweet that he has finalized the agreement for the new city, a development which means there’s no going back.
Just finalized the agreement for AKON CITY in Senegal. Looking forward to hosting you there in the future pic.twitter.com/dsoYpmjnpf
— AKON (@Akon) January 13, 2020
The Senegalese artist first announced his intentions to build a smart city in June 2018 after launching a cryptocurrency called Akoin, which he believes will help “cryptonize daily human and business exchanges” in Senegal, his home country.
The city, which is estimated to cost about $2 billion, will be built on the 2000 acres of land that was given to Akon by the President of Senegal. Akon city will be the first city to run 100% on renewable energy and cryptocurrency with Akoin digital currency being the primary medium of exchange, Akon revealed.
The rapper’s plans for his city to run on renewable energy aligns with his “Akon Lighting Africa,” charity project, which according to him, has provided “scaled solar power solutions” across 18 African countries.
According to the singer, the project is expected to take ten years to complete, and construction, which is the first stage, started in March 2019. “Stage two is going to be 2025,” he said.
Crypto Could Change Africa
The Grammy-nominated rapper said during a Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity panel that crypto and blockchain have the potential to change Africa in many ways.
“I think that blockchain and crypto could be the savior for Africa in many ways because it brings the power back to the people and brings the security back into the currency system,” he said.
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