Akon City, the ambitious ideas for a pan-African crypto-powered smart
city in Senegal from rapper Akon, has not progressed past the laying of a
ceremonial stone in 12 months.
While originally spruiked as a futuristic city inspired by the Marvel movie Black Panther
that would emerge as a “beacon of innovation and human development” and
bolster the West African and Senegalese economies by Akon in 2018,
there are few signs of the city’s development beyond a ceremonial stone
that was laid in a field near Mbodiene 12 months ago.
According to a report
from Agence France-Press, the project has not progressed beyond the
stone’s erection, with a small placard promoting Akon City having since
fallen from its perch on top of the block.
Akon had predicted
that the city would boast a police station, waste center, solar power
plant, shopping center, hospital and school by 2024, anticipating the
project would be completed in its entirety by 2030.
Senegalese
locals appear to be growing increasingly skeptical of the Akon City —
the vision for a $6 billion Pan-African “smart city” boasting a crypto-powered economy located near the Senegalese village of Mbodiene that was articulated by popular musician and producer, Akon.
The
report cites Mbiodene locals who had high hopes for a surge in
employment and economic activity who now know little of why Akon City’s
development has stalled. 35-year-old local, Jules Thiamane, stated:
“They
laid the foundation stone with a lot of speeches and promises. Compared
to everything that was announced, I don’t think we have seen much yet.”
Not
everyone has given up on Akon City however, with the president of the
Mbodiene village youth association, David Seck Sene, stating: “I still
have hope. I don’t see how a project like this could stop tomorrow.”
Philomene
Bamimba, head of a local women’s association emphasized the economic
benefits the city’s construction could bring for Mbodiene, “This is big
for us,” she said.
Paul Martin of the U.S-based engineering firm
KE International — the company that won the contract to construct Akon
City — asserted that more than $4 billion in funding has been raised
toward the project.
Martin revealed that Kenyan entrepreneur
Julius Mwale is the project’s lead investor. predicting construction
will commence in October after the development of another Mwale-funded
city has been completed in Kenya.
Related: Akon to build second African crypto-city in Uganda
Martin
added that the first 12 months of work on Akon City comprised
“planning, approvals, procurement and recruitment of subcontractors.”
According to The World Bank, more than one-third of Senegal’s 16 million population currently live below the poverty line.
source link ; https://cointelegraph.com/news/senegalese-locals-left-disillusioned-by-lack-of-progress-on-akon-city
