Musician Akon accelerates plans to build Crypto City in Senegal despite problems
The Senegalese-American musician and millionaire Akon is still moving forward with his quixotic quest to build a city called — yes — “Akon City” in Senegal that will run on a cryptocurrency called “Akoin.”
Originally announced in 2018, Akon planned to create a $6 billion city for Africans by relying on the new digital payment method. Today, Akoin’s value, however, has plunged to around $0.012, after being valued at $0.28 in September 2021, when it first launched on cryptocurrency exchange BitMart.
Senegal does not recognize cryptocurrency as legal tender, but that hasn’t dissuaded Akon from pushing the project forward.
“I want to make sure that however we involve cryptocurrencies within the city, it is in line with all the rules and regulations,” Akon recently told the BBC.
“I plan to retire to that city,” Akon said. “I don’t like using the word[s] ‘the king of the city.’ But that’s what it will turn out to be.”
Akon, however, admitted his plans for the city were rushed and Covid-19 derailed the project, which hasn’t gotten off the ground yet. He also commented on what he would have done differently: “I would have worked out more things before promoting it,” he said. “It wasn’t handled properly,” he added. “I take full responsibility for it.”
“We are trying to build the city as fast as possible,” he said, noting that the Senegalese president had “co-signed” an agreement to lease land for the project for half a century.
“We believe in the city of Akon and we are all supporting Akon so that the city of Akon comes to life,” Me Aliou Sow, CEO of the country’s tourism board, told the BBC. “It will attract tourists and investors to the region and SAPCO is fully committed to the success of this project.”
But the cryptocurrency project has its fair share of critics. Two years before Akoin launched, the project unveiled a pre-sale known as a Token of Appreciation (TOA) campaign, which would help fund the cost of creating the cryptocurrency. Billed as a “donation,” investors were lured by the promise that every $1 invested would convert into four appreciation tokens that could eventually be transferred to Akoin.
Akon’s campaign said it raised nearly $300,000 in funds during this presale period, after which the Akoin administration pledged to offer cashback or an Akoin Mastercard equal to an investor’s original donation in 2019.
But even the people who requested refunds didn’t receive them. One person told the BBC he had expected to wait weeks, but it has been over a year. “We’re back to the same situation as years ago with the lack of communication and now everyone is up in arms,” said an investor named Marcus.
Akon, however, has reassured customers that the money will be returned: “I would go around the world just to pay them all back.”
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