Music mogul Akon tweeted yesterday that he had just sealed an agreement to get his AKON CITY ambition off the ground. The “Lonely” and “Locked up” hit maker who was partly responsible for giving the world Lady Gaga revealed his ambitions for having a crypto city last year.
Before this, he was known for his lighting project that seeks to power up remote parts of Africa. In a VLAD TV interview in 2018, he revealed that he had received a $1 billion dollar Chinese credit line to boost the lighting project.
The planned crypto metropolis will be a 100% crypto city and Senegal’s first Leadership in Energy and Environmental design (LEED)- certified city. The city will sit on a 2,000 acre parcel of land gifted to the entrepreneur by the Senegalese president. Reports suggest that this parcel of land is located at Mbodience which is a short drive from Senegal’s international airport. The music artist/ entrepreneur reportedly signed a memorandum of understanding with SAPCO, which is Senegal’s state owned tourism department.
In an interview on popular radio station power 106, Akon revealed that the crypto city would be a long-term undertaking. “It’s a 10-year building block so we’re doing it in stages. We started construction in March 2019 and stage two is going to be 2025,”
The Akoin, which will be the foundation crypto token for the city will soon be launching its beta platform. The token is the foundation of the Akoin’s three part vision which is to empower “rising entrepreneurs with digital and real life tools and services; and enabling brands to unlock the power of Africa’s rising economy.”
Akon is not the only pro crypto mogul with his eyes set on Africa. Twitter and Square CEO Jack Dorsey has also made it known that the continent is on his radar. Though he has not spoken about Akon’s Akoin and the planned crypto city, he did attend a crypto meet-up in Nigeria. At the gathering he said, Africa will define the future (especially the Bitcoin one!).”
