Senegal scrapped R&B singer Akon’s plans for a multibillion-dollar city development on the country’s Atlantic Coast, and opted for a scaled-back project in the debt-stricken country that will rely on private funding. Bloomberg Reports
Most of the land previously set aside for a futuristic “Akon City” is back under state control after the artist failed to deliver on his $6 billion dream of a real-life Wakanda — the fictional country from Marvel Studios’ Black Panther films.
That project “no longer exists,” Serigne Mamadou Mboup, head of Sapco-Senegal, the state-owned entity that develops coastal and tourism areas, told L’Agence de presse sénégalaise.
Land Reclaimed
Last year, Sapco gave Akon two weeks to begin work on the development or risk forfeiting the land in Mbodiène, about 80 kilometers (50 miles) southeast of Senegal’s capital, Dakar. Most of the land was reclaimed after Akon missed payments to Sapco.
Sapco’s Mboup wasn’t reachable. A member of Akon’s staff and a Sapco spokeswoman declined to comment.
Sapco now plans to spend 665 billion CFA francs ($1.2 billion) turning the area into a tourism hub with hotels, apartments, a marina and promenade connecting the area to a nearby lagoon.
The goal is to “make Mbodiène a true engine of growth,” according to a presentation shared by Sapco.
Read more: Akon’s $6 Billion ‘Wakanda’ City in Africa Gets Final Notice
The project is being developed as Senegal deals with a debt crisis that emerged after a state audit found that former President Macky Sall’s administration accumulated $7 billion of previously unreported loans. The so-called hidden liabilities restricted the West African nation’s access to global credit markets and led the International Monetary Fund to freeze $1.8 billion of funding.
Private Funding
That may hamper Senegal’s hopes of raising 600 billion CFA francs from private investors. The government will provide the other 65 billion CFA francs.
“We’ve already seen some interest,” said Boubacar Diallo, general manager of the tourism zone’s business unit at Sablux Immobilier, the state’s development partner. He declined to provide further details.
Senegal granted Akon 136 acres of land in 2020 for the project that envisaged transforming Mbodiène from a farming village into a city with a state-of-the-art hospital and a university. Akon City was to be solar-powered, with residents and visitors using the 52-year-old artist’s cryptocurrency.
Phase one of the project, which included the hospital, was scheduled for completion by 2023, part of a 10-year timeline. The most visible progress has been a youth center, a basketball court, and a small information center.Akon, a Senegalese-American singer, has retained 8 hectares of land that will form part of a bigger project covering over 500 hectares that Sapco backs.
“What Akon’s preparing with us is a realistic project, which Sapco will fully support,” Mboup said.
The government expects its plan will deliver on part of the original promise, with about 15,000 jobs expected in the first phase, according to Sapco.
“May this resort serve as a model for success in Senegal, a hub for tourism and a source of economic opportunity,” Mayor Alpha Samb said at a sod-turning ceremony on Tuesday.
The new plan may finally offer opportunity for local investment, jobs and a reason for young people to stay, said Jean Wally Sene, a school teacher and resident of Mbodiène.
“For a very long time, people, including Akon, have been coming here trying to sell us dreams and illusions,” Sene said. “Finally, there’s a dream for Mbodiène that we dare to believe in.”
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