A major African country is set to benefit from a new £4.7billion city that is being funded by a popstar.
Named Akon City, the new Senegalese metropolis is named after the singer Akon, famous for his hits including ‘Lonely’ and ‘Smack That’.
The musician’s father was born in Senegal, and Akon spent a lot of time in the country when he was a child.
Having made a fortune from his music career, he announced in 2020 that he planned to build a new city that is eco-friendly and inspired by Wakanda from Marvel’s Black Panther.
The Senegalese government allocated 136 acres of land for the project.
Among the attractions planned for the city are amusement parks, a seaside resort, hospitals, a police station and a university.
Meanwhile, the infrastructure is to be powered by solar energy and Akoin cryptocurrency. The city is to be built 60 miles south of the Senegalese capital, Dakar.
Explaining his motivation for the project, Akon said: “When I’m in the United States, I meet a lot of African-Americans who don’t really understand their culture.
“So I wanted to build a city or a project to give them the motivation to come and see where they come from.”
And at a press conference in 2020, he added: “I wanted to build a city or a project like this that will give them the motivation to know that there is a home back home.”
He also said: “The system back home treats them unfairly in so many different ways that you can never imagine. And they only go through it because they feel that there is no other way. So if you’re coming from America or Europe or elsewhere in the diaspora and you feel that you want to visit Africa, we want Senegal to be your first stop.”
However, the new city plan has been met with a number of setbacks and controversies. The site where the city was meant to be built has become so abandoned that livestock now roams there.
Earlier this year, Mame Lamp Fall, a community leader near the city, told The Times: “It would have had a great impact on many lives here where there are many young people who do not have a job.”
In 2021, Devyne Stephens, a music executive and Akon’s former business partner, sued Akon and alleged that he was owed money from the settlement agreement.
Akon denied any wrongdoing. He later paid £700,000 to settle part of the lawsuit, which is ongoing.
