Senegal has officially scrapped the ambitious $6 billion Akon City project, a futuristic smart city inspired by Marvel’s Wakanda and spearheaded by U.S.-Senegalese musician Akon. The project was unveiled in 2018 with grand plans to build a high-tech, eco-friendly metropolis powered entirely by renewable energy and its own cryptocurrency, Akoin, on 800 hectares near Mbodiene, about 100 km from Dakar.
The city was to feature curvilinear skyscrapers, a hospital, shopping mall, police station, university, and other infrastructure, aiming to position Senegal as a hub for innovation and technology in West Africa. However, nearly seven years later, the site remains mostly untouched except for a single unfinished welcome center. No roads, homes, or power supply have been built.
The Senegalese tourism ministry deemed the project “unrealistic” due to chronic funding shortfalls, stalled construction, and mismanagement of the Akoin cryptocurrency, whose value plummeted from $0.15 at launch to $0.003 by 2024. Local residents who gave up land for the project have yet to be compensated.
Following an ultimatum in 2024 to either start the project or return most of the land, Senegal has repossessed the site and reached an agreement with Akon to pursue a more realistic and feasible development plan fully supported by the government. The new project aims to be sustainable and practical, leveraging the strategic location especially with the upcoming 2026 Youth Olympic Games and expected tourism growth.
Akon acknowledged past management issues with the cryptocurrency and accepted responsibility for the project’s failure to meet its original ambitious timeline, which had envisioned Phase 1 completion by 2023 and full development by 2029.
