Akon's Senegalese 'Wakanda' city in peril

In 2020, Senegalese-American singer Akon vowed to create "a real-life Wakanda" in Senegal. But four years on, his futuristic city remains little more than a pipe dream.

The West African nation had granted Akon 136 acres of land along its Atlantic coast to develop "Akon City", inspired by the fictional country in Marvel Studios' "Black Panther" films, said Bloomberg.

Akon promised a high-tech metropolis featuring "condominiums, amusement parks, and a seaside resort in gravity-defying skyscrapers rising above the rural landscape", all powered by solar energy and the singer's Akoin cryptocurrency.

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Yet today, "goats and cows graze the deserted pasture 60 miles south of Dakar", in the coastal village of Mbodiène, as local authorities grow "increasingly impatient" with the lack of progress.

'A sanctuary for the African diaspora'

Phase one of the $6 billion project was originally due to be completed by 2023, said The Times. The plans included "homes, a hospital, a school, a police station, and a solar power plant". The entire city was to be finished by 2030.

Akon envisioned the development not only as a source of opportunity and employment for Senegal's youth but also as a "sanctuary for African-Americans seeking to reconnect with their African roots", said The Guardian. Senegal is already a "pilgrimage destination" for many in the African diaspora, with many visiting the island of Gorée, the largest slave-trading centre on the African coast from the 15th to the 19th century.

"I wanted to build a city or a project like this to give them the motivation to know that there is a home back home," Akon said at a 2020 press conference.

'We're still waiting'

But the global star, who has sold some 35 million albums worldwide, has now been given an "ultimatum", said The Times. Either get on with the project – or lose the land that was granted for it.

Sapco-Senegal, the state-owned entity charged with developing the country's coastal and tourism areas, has given Akon formal notice that the government will take back 90% of the land unless work is started on the project, according to Serigne Mboup, Sapco's director general.

Akon was given the notice "after missing several payments to Sapco", said Bloomberg, which added that a spokesperson for Akon had declined to comment on the matter.

The project has encountered numerous setbacks and delays since its inception. In 2021, Akon's former business partner Devyne Stephens sued him for $4 million, claiming unpaid debts related to the project, said Tortoise.

Stephens' lawyers later accused Akon City and Akoin of displaying "many of the trademark characteristics… of fraudulent business ventures such as Ponzi schemes and pyramid schemes". Akon settled part of the lawsuit out of court.

And in February 2023, Senegalese lawmaker Bara Gaye told parliament that "Akon City is a scandal," said Bloomberg.

Even staunch supporters of the project, like Mbodiène village chief Michel Diome, now doubt it will ever be built. "Akon City would bring employment for our youth," Diome told the news site. "We would finally have a hospital and even a university."

"We're still waiting," he said.