American-Senegalese rapper Akon is building a "city of the future" in Senegal - Akon City, the idea of which he borrowed from "Black Panther". The project started in 2018, two years later the first stone was laid
What is known about Akon City?
The city is being built 100 km from Dakar, the capital of Senegal. The singer was inspired by Wakanda, a fictional African country from the Black Panther blockbuster. The superheroes of the Marvel Universe live in it.
Initially, the area will be 55 hectares (0.55 sq. Km), but then it will grow to 500 hectares (5 sq. Km). For comparison: the area of the Sheremetyevo airport is 0.48 sq. km.
Akon City will operate on solar energy. The city will be surrounded by artificial islands and eco-friendly resorts. Inside, a port for cruise ships, skyscrapers with apartments and business centers, shopping centers, condominiums, a hospital, a university are planned. The city will even have its own cryptocurrency - Akoin. Akon also promised that Akon City can be reached in 1-2 hours from anywhere in Africa. At the same time, a regular flight from Nairobi to Dakar takes more than ten hours.
Construction is scheduled to be completed by 2023 with support from the Senegalese government. The authorities hope that this will help attract investment to the country. Akon himself claims that the city will open up new opportunities for all African Americans who face racial discrimination.
The American consulting and engineering company KE International is responsible for the implementation, and the chief architect is Hussein Bakri from Abu Dhabi. This caused negative feedback from the Senegalese architects, who were not even offered to participate in the project. However, later Akon consulted with the local head of architectural supervision and made changes on his advice. Another question is how much energy will be spent on cooling glass and concrete houses in the middle of the desert, where the usual temperature is above 40 ° C?
The project cost is estimated at $ 6 billion, and, according to the creator, they have already received a third of the amount from investors. In the future, they plan to sell the Akon City concept as a franchise, hoping that this will "define a new design and architecture paradigm for Africa."
Is Akon an African Musk?
Akon was born in the United States to a Senegalese family. He actively supports poor African countries that are completely dependent on the West.
Akon City is not the first ambitious project of an R&B star. In 2014, he announced the creation of the Lighting Africa charity initiative, with Samba Bathily and Thione Niang. Its goal was to provide African cities with solar energy. For this, they planned to build autonomous power plants and install lanterns on the streets. According to the creators of the project, he has helped over 32 million people in 25 countries. However, in 2015, Akon was accused of manipulating African leaders to get them to finance his projects.
In 2018, Akon launched Akoin, its own cryptocurrency tied to smartphones through an app. It was supposed to unite African entrepreneurs and become the most "stable alternative currency throughout Africa." However, already at the first stage, the project faced insurmountable difficulties: the majority of Africans have extremely low incomes, and only a third of the population have smartphones. Michael Kimani, chairman of the Blockchain Association in Kenya, rejected Akoin for not being able to implement it.
Musk's projects are even more ambitious, often run into technical difficulties and do not meet deadlines. But they are still viable, bring considerable profits and, most importantly, set global trends.