Is Senegal’s Akon City an impossible dream?
-
Loading... - Ndeye Fatou Thiam
- 05 Apr 2023
- 67 Views
- 0 Like
- 0 Comment
In August 2020, Senegalese-American singer Akon laid the foundation stone for a smart city located over 100km south of Dakar, but work has yet to begin. Delays threaten to stop this pharaonic project that local politicians suspect is a hoax.
His fame preceded him, opening the doors to the holiest of all holies. Alioune Badara Thiam (aka Akon), a Senegalese native son who became a music star on the other side of the Atlantic, saw the red carpet rolled out before him – from the ministry of tourism to the Senegalese presidency – when he unveiled the ambitious project he had for his parents’ home country in 2018.
A futuristic high-tech city with atypical architecture, propelled by solar energy and the crypto-currency the musician himself had launched, Akon City seemed destined to become a real-life Wakanda, situated over 100km from Dakar.
Like Pharaoh Cheops, Akon would be the builder. Like T’Challa (aka the Black Panther), he would become the prince of this kingdom bearing his name, a dominion meant to celebrate the continent and establish its influence throughout the world, where uprooted Africans from the diaspora would flock.
Facing the Atlantic Ocean and straddling the Mbodiène lagoon, in 2023 Akon City still exists only in the magical computer graphics of a 3D video. According to its promoter, it will cost an estimated $6bn. Initially planned for 2023, the first stage of construction work is now scheduled for completion in 2028, while the final stage will have to wait until 2035. Read More…
