Development work on Akon, the futuristic city proposed by American musician, Akon, remains stalled yet it was supposed to be completed in 2023.
According to a recent update, authorities are growing impatient with just a concrete block built on the 136-acre field in the Senegalese village where R&B singer Akon first laid the foundation stone for his $6 billion metropolis four years ago.
“Today, goats and cows graze the deserted pasture 60 miles south of Dakar, and authorities are growing increasingly impatient,” said Bloomberg.
The government has even given Akon formal notice to start work on his project or the government will take back 90% of the land granted to him.
The writing was on the wall with many Africans, including BitKE, questioning the viability of the project when it was announced in 2020.
[TECH] Akon City African Crypto Project Seals New Partnerships in June 2020 – A Reality Check: The Akoin flagship crypto project for rapper Akon, continues to make great strides with new partnerships bein.. https://t.co/NEsVLuJweQ via @BitcoinKE
— Top Kenyan Blogs (@Blogs_Kenya) June 26, 2020
Akon envisioned the city as a real-life Wakanda, the fictional country from Marvel Studios’ Black Panther films. It would include:
- Condominiums
- Amusement parks, and a
- Seaside resort
rising above the rural landscape of the local village in Senegal where the land is located.
Akon City would run on solar power and his Akoin cryptocurrency, inspired by mobile phone credit, the American-Senegalese singer said during a flashy presentation in Senegal’s capital, Dakar. Akon, 51, also envisioned hospitals, a police station, and a university equipped with cutting-edge technology.
“Akon City would bring employment for our youth,” said Michel Diome, the chief of Mbodiene village.
“We would finally have a hospital and even a university.”
The Stellar-based cryptocurrency inspired by mobile phone credit would also power the Mwale Medical and Technology City (MMTC) in Western Kenya.
[VIDEO] Akoin Cryptocurrency to Power the Mwale Medical and Technology Smart City in Western Kenya – Bitcoin KE https://t.co/hp8h5DRN90 via @@BitcoinKE
— Jack Wagenti (@jwage2) April 18, 2020
Back in 2020, BitKE cast doubt on the viability of Akoin living up to become the ‘cryptocurrency powering Africa’ with it likely being yet another attempt at seeking investments and funding for the project.
Akon City African Crypto Project Seals New Partnerships in June 2020 – A Reality Check: https://t.co/4giW9XvsAn @AkoinOfficial @Akon #Akoin #Africa
— BitKE (@BitcoinKE) June 26, 2020
According to Bloomberg, the cryptocurrency introduced in the peak of a cryptocurrency bull run in November 2020 – is now hardly traded, if at all. The BitGet crypto exchange first quoted it at $0.15 on Nov. 19, 2020, and it had dwindled to $0.003 by Dec. 11, the last available price.
#Akoin Cryptocurrency Officially Launches on #Bittrex with a Pilot Stage Set to Roll Out in Kenya https://t.co/y6FQG10uRE
— MundoBitcoin (@MBitcoin) November 12, 2020
In addition to the Senegalese city, another of Akon’s proposed cities in Uganda has also stalled. There, while the country’s President allocated one square mile of land to the singer in 2021, preliminary work has not even happened ‘because occupants resisted the move and sent away surveyors,’ Uganda Land Commission Secretary Andrew Nyumba.
Back in Senegal, Mbodiene village chief, Diome, said his hopes that the singer would transform his community were dwindling.
“We’re still waiting,” he said.
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