Akon, the Senegalese born USA singer and song writer, is one step closer to realising his dream of building a technologically advanced, solar powered African city called ‘Akon City‘. This star and Senegal’s Minister of Tourism Alioune Sarr officially laid the city’s first brick during a ceremony on Monday, in a coastal village around 99kms from the capital of Senegal, Dakar.
Few details surrounding the 2,000 acre project have been made public, but the city is believed to cost around $6billion to build, with Akon saying that a third of that funding has already been secured. Akon has also received backing from the Senegalese government, along with being funded by unnamed investors, according to The Guardian.
Take a look at the brick laying ceremony below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lncezztatb8&feature=emb_title
Akon City will include skyscrapers, shopping malls, eco-friendly tourist resorts, casinos, and even music studios – all of which will be solar powered. Akon has also set up his own crypto-currency called ‘Akoin’, which is believed to be the official currency of the city.
During the brick laying ceremony, Akon mentioned that his investment into the city would provide significant opportunities for the Senegalese people, along with acting as a safe haven African Americans who face racial discrimination.
‘The system back home [in the US] treats them unfairly in so many different ways that you can never imagine,’ he said. ‘And they only go through it because they feel that there is no other way. If you’re coming from America or Europe or elsewhere in the diaspora and you feel that you want to visit Africa, we want Senegal to be your first stop.’
US-based consulting and engineering firm KE International, has been contracted to build the city, which they describe as defining ‘a new paradigm in design and architecture for Africa,’ according to The Guardian.
Akon also released a video to his YouTube channel which shows what the city could look like once it is complete.
Image credit: Screenshot/ This is AkonCity
