Senegal has officially scrapped Akon\u2019s much-hyped plans to build a futuristic, crypto-powered city on its Atlantic coast.<\/p>\n
The West African country is reclaiming most of the land once set aside for the project and shifting focus to a scaled-back, privately funded tourism hub.<\/p>\n
First announced in 2018 and branded<\/a> as a \u201creal-life Wakanda,\u201d Akon City aimed to transform Mbodi\u00e8ne, a quiet farming village about 80 kilometers from Dakar, into a $6 billion metropolis running on Akon\u2019s Akoin cryptocurrency. Plans included a solar-powered city with a state-of-the-art hospital, university, hotels, shopping malls, and a marina.<\/p>\n <\/a>Akoin city. Source: Akon\u2019s website<\/p>\n After repeated delays, missed payments, and a final ultimatum from Senegal\u2019s tourism development body SAPCO in 2024, the country terminated Akon City. The SAPCO General Manager, Serigne Mamadou Mboup, confirmed<\/a>,<\/p>\n \u201cThe Akon City project no longer exists.\u201d<\/p>\n Most of the 136 acres granted to Akon in 2020 are now back under state control. While the grand vision of a futuristic crypto city in Senegal has ended, Akon isn\u2019t entirely walking away. The singer will retain eight hectares of the land as part of a revised plan with SAPCO for a smaller-scale development.<\/p>\n The timing reflects Senegal\u2019s economic challenges. The nation is grappling with a debt crisis after a state audit revealed $7 billion in hidden liabilities under the previous administration, which has capped access to credit markets and frozen IMF funding.<\/p>\n Against this backdrop, SAPCO\u2019s revised $1.2 billion plan for Mbodi\u00e8ne will depend heavily on private investors to transform the area into a tourism hub with hotels, apartments, and a promenade linking to a nearby lagoon.<\/p>\n Despite the hype, Akon City\u2019s visible progress was limited to a youth center, a basketball court, and a small welcome center, leaving early Akoin buyers demanding refunds and some residents skeptical of big promises. The new plan is expected to create around 15,000 jobs in its first phase, offering a tangible opportunity for local investment and employment that even the grandest crypto visions could not deliver.<\/p>\n The post Remember Akon\u2019s Futuristic Crypto City? Here\u2019s the Brutal Reality After 7 Years<\/a> appeared first on CryptoPotato<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Senegal has officially scrapped Akon\u2019s much-hyped plans to build a futuristic, crypto-powered city on its Atlantic coast. The West African country is reclaiming most of the land once set aside for the project and shifting focus to a scaled-back, privately funded tourism hub. \u201cReal-Life Wakanda\u201d No More First announced in 2018 and branded as a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":84088,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-84087","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-discovery"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84087"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=84087"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84087\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/84088"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=84087"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=84087"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=84087"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Senegal Debt Crisis Deepens<\/h2>\n
![<\/a>Akoin city. Source: Akon\u2019s website<\/p>\nAfter repeated delays, missed payments, and a final ultimatum from Senegal\u2019s tourism development body SAPCO in 2024, the country terminated Akon City. The SAPCO General Manager, Serigne Mamadou Mboup, confirmed<\/a>,<\/p>\n\u201cThe Akon City project no longer exists.\u201d<\/p>\nMost of the 136 acres granted to Akon in 2020 are now back under state control. While the grand vision of a futuristic crypto city in Senegal has ended, Akon isn\u2019t entirely walking away. The singer will retain eight hectares of the land as part of a revised plan with SAPCO for a smaller-scale development.<\/p>\nSenegal Debt Crisis Deepens<\/h2>\nThe timing reflects Senegal\u2019s economic challenges. The nation is grappling with a debt crisis after a state audit revealed $7 billion in hidden liabilities under the previous administration, which has capped access to credit markets and frozen IMF funding.<\/p>\nAgainst this backdrop, SAPCO\u2019s revised $1.2 billion plan for Mbodi\u00e8ne will depend heavily on private investors to transform the area into a tourism hub with hotels, apartments, and a promenade linking to a nearby lagoon.<\/p>\nDespite the hype, Akon City\u2019s visible progress was limited to a youth center, a basketball court, and a small welcome center, leaving early Akoin buyers demanding refunds and some residents skeptical of big promises. The new plan is expected to create around 15,000 jobs in its first phase, offering a tangible opportunity for local investment and employment that even the grandest crypto visions could not deliver.<\/p>\nThe post Remember Akon\u2019s Futuristic Crypto City? Here\u2019s the Brutal Reality After 7 Years<\/a> appeared first on CryptoPotato<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Senegal has officially scrapped Akon\u2019s much-hyped plans to build a futuristic, crypto-powered city on its Atlantic coast. The West African country is reclaiming most of the land once set aside for the project and shifting focus to a scaled-back, privately funded tourism hub. \u201cReal-Life Wakanda\u201d No More First announced in 2018 and branded as a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":84088,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-84087","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-discovery"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84087"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=84087"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84087\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/84088"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=84087"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=84087"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=84087"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}](\"http:\/\/cryptopotato.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/akoin-city.jpg\"){kind=link}