Several celebrity finance websites estimate Akon’s net worth to be between $60-80m, leading some to question where the money will come from for a project of this size. His team claim they have an international consortium in place who will fund it with private investment.
Akon said that excavation work on the site will finally start before the end of the year, adding that further announcements will be made at a youth centre he has built for residents in a local village. Construction work on Akon City he acknowledges “is yet to be fully calendered”.
The initial plans for Akon City, dubbed it “Crypto City” and in August 2020 Akon said the city’s financial infrastructure would be “built off” his own Akoin cryptocurrency. But the cryptocurrency has been plagued by its own delays and struggles.
“It wasn’t being managed properly,” he concedes. “I take full responsibility for that.”
Before launching his Akoin cryptocurrency, the Akoin website announced a pre-sale opportunity called the Token of Appreciation (TOA) campaign.
The campaign was announced over two years before the Akoin cryptocurrency itself was available. It was a fundraiser to cover the costs of launching Akoin later down the line.
Widely known for his string of noughties chart hits Akon, who was born in the United States but partly raised in Senegal, announced two ambitious projects in 2018 that were supposed to represent the future of African society.
The first was a reported $6bn (£5bn) city with boldly curvaceous skyscrapers. It was to run on the second initiative – a brand new cryptocurrency called Akoin.
But several years on both projects have faced difficulties and delays and the site where the city is proposed to be built remains a waste ground.
The building structures are kinda similar to that of Wakanda, Akon is quite a visionary, so let’s see what he has in mind for the future of his city.
