The construction of West Africa’s futuristic city in Senegal is still shrouded in mystery as the government issues an ultimatum. Laying the foundation of the city four years ago, the single arched concrete block on a field in Senegal is the only progress that has been made in the city. The field was issued to R&B singer Akon, where he first laid the foundation stone for his $6 billion metropolis, Akon City. Senegal granted the artist 136 acres of land on its Atlantic Coast in 2020 to build his Akon City. Promising to be one of Senegal’s mega projects and one that would put the nation in the limelight, the project has never broken ground. Moreover, the Senegalese government is getting impatient and wants the artist to expedite his project.
The State of Affairs Regarding West Africa’s Futuristic City in Senegal
The construction of West Africa’s futuristic city in Senegal has been shrouded in controversy. Today, goats and cows graze the deserted pasture 60 miles south of Dakar, and authorities are growing increasingly impatient. For this reason, Sapco-Senegal has given Akon formal notice to start work on his project. The state-owned entity charged with developing the country’s coastal and tourism areas has noted that if this does not happen, the government will take back 90% of the land granted to him. Akon got the notice after missing several payments to Sapco, and two people familiar with the matter said. In addition to the luxury apartments and seaside resorts, Akon also envisioned hospitals, a police station, and a university equipped with cutting-edge technology. However, at the moment, the controversies that Akon City is imbued in seem to make the project seem infeasible. Furthermore, there have also been reimbursement complaints from displaced people. 
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The Scope of Development in Senegal’s Akon City
The construction of West Africa’s futuristic city in Senegal promised to be outstanding in Africa. Akon City was to be solar-powered and environmentally friendly, the artist said in 2020. Furthermore, residents and visitors would use the Akoin cryptocurrency launched that year. He also noted the city would be complete with condominiums, amusement parks, and a seaside resort with gravity-defying skyscrapers rising above the rural landscape. Akon City would run on solar power, and his Akoin cryptocurrency, the American-Senegalese singer said during a flashy presentation in Senegal’s capital, Dakar.
Local authorities were open to Akon’s promises to attract businesses and create jobs in an economically deprived, mostly agrarian part of Senegal. “Akon City would bring employment for our youth,” Mbodiene village chief Michel Diome said. “We would finally have a hospital and even a university.” In 2007, Akon founded Akon Lighting Africa, intending to distribute solar-powered solutions to off-grid parts of the continent. Akon City was his boldest idea yet and required getting former Senegalese president Macky Sall on board. Once a fierce believer in Akon’s plans for his community, Diome said his hopes that the singer would transform his community were dwindling.
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