The 'Project of Fools' Faces Collapse – Akon City Senegal
- Helena Kreienssiek
- Jul 22
- 3 min read
This article was published with the kind permission of Helena Kreiensiek.
→ Read the original source on taz.de
So far, only cows graze next to a half-finished house.
It was meant to be the concrete embodiment of bold dreams: “Akon City,” a futuristic smart city envisioned and financed by US-Senegalese singer Akon. In the 2000s, the now 55-year-old rose to fame with hits like “Lonely” and “Smack That.”
The mega project, estimated to cost six billion US dollars, was supposed to transform the sleepy village of Mbodiène, located on Senegal’s west coast about 100 kilometers from the capital Dakar, into an urban high-tech hub.
A city called “Akon City,” with its own cryptocurrency named “Akoin,” inspired by the fictional world of Black Panther, the Marvel movie. Its superhero hails from Wakanda, a fictional, hyper-modern country in sub-Saharan Africa.
The dream of a real-life Wakanda seems to be over.
“Akon City no longer exists,” said Serigne Mamadou Mboup, head of the Senegalese tourism development agency SAPCO, to local media at the end of June – confirming what many had already suspected. The project had stalled due to a lack of funding.
Warnings instead of skyscrapers
On August 31, 2020, the Senegal-born singer laid the first symbolic foundation stone for the new city together with the former Senegalese Minister of Tourism. The West African coastal state had granted Alioune Badara Thiam – Akon's real name – 136 hectares of land to build “Akon City.”
Instead of a city, the singer received a warning. If construction did not resume by the end of July this year, the government could reclaim nearly all of the land allocated to him.
Since then, the internet has been flooded with image memes comparing the grand vision to harsh reality: “What we were promised vs. what we got.”
The planned glass-clad skyscrapers and futuristic green spaces are contrasted with what remains today – over five years after the cornerstone was laid in Mbodiène: a half-finished reception building in a grassy field, with cows casually grazing around the ruins. “A project by fools looking for their kind,” reads just one of many comments under the official termination announcement.
Africa doesn’t need new cities
Looking back, Akon admitted in an interview: “My biggest mistake was promoting it too heavily before even starting it.” And: “People don’t realize how long it takes to build infrastructure.”
But the failed dream caught attention beyond Senegal. In 2022, Akon also promised to build an “Akon City” in Uganda – with its own cryptocurrency – by 2036, after the Ugandan government allocated land for the venture. Yet, Africa faces more urgent issues.
A new city is not what we need, commented Ugandan YouTuber, car mechanic, and satirist Moses Jr Kiboneka, aka “Uncle Mo,” in a dry video. We should focus on infrastructure and freedom of movement instead.
Is Akon City Senegal still alive?
According to the Senegalese tourism agency, a new agreement has been reached: they speak of a “realistic” project, of good cooperation and big plans – once again. What exactly Akon and the tourism authority are now planning remains their secret.
But who knows – while cows still graze peacefully next to the half-built reception hall, the ruins might yet become a symbol of perseverance, vision, or improvisation.Akon, it seems, hasn’t given up.Maybe it’ll work out after all. Inshallah – God willing.
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