Hugely successful music producer Akon plans to build a city in Senegal based on a cryptocurrency which could be “the saviour of Africa”.
Akon, 45, is launching the app-based ‘AKoin’ cryptocurrency, which he says would be at the centre of a futuristic African city similar to Wakanda – the hi-tech fictional African nation from Marvel’s award-winning Black Panther movie.
The Grammy-nominated artist was speaking on a panel about Africa, blockchain and entrepreneurship at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.
“I think that blockchain and crypto could be the saviour for Africa in many ways,” he said, according to Page Six.
“It brings the power back to the people and brings the security back into the currency system and also allows the people to utilise it in ways where they can advance themselves and not allow government to do those things that are keeping them down.”
The ‘Akoin’ website claims that President of Senegal Macky Sall has gifted 2,000 acres of land – a short drive from the country’s capital Dakar and its new international airport – to Akon for the project.
Akon, real name Aliaume Thiam, spent much of his childhood in Senegal but was born in Missouri and lives in the United States.
He says he will call the city Akon Crypto City but does not plan to be intimately involved in the execution of the project.
“I come with the concepts and let the geeks figure it out,” he said.