Senegalese authorities have confirmed that plans for Akon City, a $6 billion futuristic development envisioned by U.S.-Senegalese pop star Akon, have been officially abandoned.
“The Akon City project no longer exists,” said Serigne Mamadou Mboup, head of Senegal’s tourism development agency SAPCO, in an interview with the BBC. He added that a new, more “realistic” project is now being planned in collaboration with the singer.
Initially announced in 2018, Akon City was touted as a revolutionary, Wakanda-like smart city powered entirely by renewable energy and fueled by a proprietary cryptocurrency, Akoin. Early designs showed sweeping, curvaceous skyscrapers and ambitious infrastructure, including hospitals, shopping centers, and a solar plant.
But five years on, the 800-hectare site near Mbodiène—about 100 km south of Dakar—remains undeveloped. The only structure on-site is an incomplete welcome center. “We were promised jobs and development,” one local resident told the BBC. “Instead, nothing has changed.”
Akoin, the cryptocurrency intended to power the city’s economy, has also faltered, with investors raising concerns and Akon admitting mismanagement. There were legal questions, too, about using Akoin as legal tender in a country whose currency, the CFA franc, is strictly regulated.
Despite Akon’s 2022 claim that the project was “100,000% moving,” officials now cite a lack of funding and failure to launch construction as reasons for shelving the plan.
However, the government says the land still holds strategic value—particularly with the 2026 Youth Olympic Games approaching—and that new development plans with Akon are already underway, albeit with more grounded ambitions.