American rapper Alioune Badara Thiam, better known as Akon, announced in 2020 his goal of building a $6 billion megacity in Senegal. This city would be inspired by Wakanda, the Central African country invented by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby as the home of the superhero Black Panther.
The proposal promised to change the urban and economic landscape of the African country, serving as a magnet to attract investment and tourism to Senegal. As with other pharaonic projects, ‘Akon’s Wakanda’ went from an estimated investment of $6 billion to one-sixth of that amount and finally to just a couple of buildings in a remote rural town southeast of the Senegalese capital.
Akon City: Wakanda in real life
Akon was a successful rapper in the early 2000s. Although he spent most of his life in the United States, he was originally from Senegal. It is therefore not surprising that he dreamed of bringing his life’s project to Senegal.
The artist dreamed of building a futuristic megacity inspired by the Wakanda he had seen in Marvel comics and films. To no one’s surprise, the rapper named the project Akon City.
Although the idea could have remained an artistic eccentricity, his close ties to Senegal led the then Minister of Tourism of Senegal, Alioune Sarr, to give institutional support to the project, as reported by La Vanguardia in 2020. ‘For all those coming from America, Europe or anywhere else who want to visit Africa, we want Senegal to be their first stop,’ said the rapper at the project’s presentation.
The rapper said, ‘I want the buildings to look like authentic African sculptures made in villages,’ according to the Washington Post. This spirit was reflected in the architecture that the artist imagined in the form of large, sinuous skyscrapers.
As can be seen on the project’s website, the city was to be divided into different themed areas: educational, health, technology and entertainment districts, etc., equipped with hospitals, football stadiums, film studios, research laboratories and universities.
And how would it be paid for?
In addition to state and private investment, the financing was to be supported by a cryptocurrency that the rapper wanted to link to the city’s development: the Akoin.
The Senegalese government fulfilled its part and provided 800 hectares of undeveloped coastal land for the new urban project. The location chosen was Mbodiène, an agricultural village about 100 kilometres southeast of Dakar.
However, as has already happened with projects that start with much deeper pockets than Akon’s, such as NEOM, the rapper soon realised that £6 billion was a lot of money. Therefore, by 2024, investment expectations were lowered from £6 billion to a much more modest plan valued at £1 billion.
For its part, Akoin began trading on the Bitget exchange platform at £0.15 on 19 November 2020. By 11 December, its last available price, it had already fallen to £0.003, confirming the lack of support the project had received and dealing it a fatal blow.
As reported by Bloomberg, there are currently no roads, homes or electricity on the site. The only structures financed by the rapper are a youth centre, a basketball court in the nearby town of Mbodiène and a reception building for the complex, which is still half-built. There is no sign of the futuristic buildings that were imagined for Akon City.
The end of Akon City and the future of the land
The project came to an end thanks to Serigne Mamadou Mboup, director of Sapco, Senegal’s tourism development agency, who in statements to the BBC, said: “The Akon City project no longer exists. Fortunately, an agreement has been reached between Sapco and businessman Alioune Badara Thiam. What he is preparing with us is a realistic project, which Sapco will fully support.‘
The artist himself acknowledged that the project was too big for him and admitted that ’it was not being managed properly; I take full responsibility.”
Senegal has recovered 90% of the land it had ceded for the development of the city and plans to continue working with the artist to build sports and civil facilities for the 2026 Youth Olympic Games to be held in Dakar. However, Senegal’s Wakanda will have to wait in a drawer. Yibambe!
