"Akon City" was first announced back in 2018. It was pitched as a futuristic, crypto-powered city dreamt up by the performer and likened to a “real-life Wakanda.” 550 hectares of land near the coastal village of Mbodiene were set aside for the project. Earlier this month, however, fans got a disappointing update. According to the North Africa Post, the Senegalese government has decided to abandon the proposal and reclaim the land. Reportedly, this is due to delays and financial problems.
Sapco-Senegal, a state-owned entity that develops coastal and tourism areas, is expected to start working on new hotels, apartments, a marina, and more in the area instead. Despite these reports, Akon insists that "Akon City" is still underway, although there are some haters who want to see it fail. TMZ caught up with him in New York City this week, where he claimed that the project is "under attack."
"The impact that it's gonna do for Africa is kind of shaking up a lot of agendas," he said. "So you're gonna see a lot of misinformation on the internet, and I would advise that it's untrue."
Akon City
"For the most part, the project is a city, so it's not gonna stop," he continued. "When you're doing something that big in Africa, specifically with all these agendas tied to it, they're gonna try to discredit it for it not to happen. I just need people to be more wise and know that a project like this don't happen overnight."
For now, it remains unclear exactly if or when Akon City will be finished.
In 2025, Akon spoke with AllHipHop's Chuck Creekmur about Akon City, admitting that he could have done a better job with it early on. "My biggest thing was I promoted it way, way, way too early,” he explained at the time. "Of course, anything that exciting that would change a culture, people will naturally want to know what’s happening right now, assuming that it’s already happening. But it was in a process of creating."
