Senegal has cancelled Akon’s ambitious $6 billion smart city project after years of delays, broken promises, and no visible progress.
Announced in 2020, the project called Akon City was planned as a futuristic city inspired by Marvel’s Wakanda. The city was supposed to be powered by solar energy and use Akon’s own cryptocurrency, Akoin. It was to be built in Mbodiène, a quiet village on Senegal’s Atlantic coast.
The goal was to transform Mbodiène into a modern tech hub, with hospitals, schools, hotels, and housing. But five years later, construction never began.
The Senegalese government has now taken back most of the 136 acres of land that had been given to Akon for the project. Officials said financial commitments were not fulfilled.
“That project no longer exists,” said Serigne Mamadou Mboup, head of SAPCO, the agency responsible for developing Senegal’s coast and tourism zones.
Instead, the government will now move forward with a new, smaller project in the same location. This updated plan will focus on tourism development. It will be supported by private investors and have a revised budget of about $1.2 billion USD.
Akon will keep only 8 hectares of the original land. That area will be included in the new state-led project. The revised plan is expected to create up to 15,000 jobs in its first phase. This offers real economic hope for the people of Mbodiène.
Despite all the media attention over the years, Akon City only produced a youth center, a basketball court, and an information kiosk. No major buildings were ever constructed. The first phase, which included a hospital, was meant to be completed by 2023 but nothing happened.
The cancellation highlights the risks of large-scale private projects that lack proper funding and oversight. While the idea of Akon City was exciting, the failure to deliver has led Senegal to take control.
Authorities now say they want to focus on real, achievable results that will benefit the local community.
