Senegalese-American singer Akon. — Bloomberg
DAKAR: Senegal scrapped R&B singer Akon’s plans for a multi-billion-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.
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 US$6bil 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 the Senegal Press Agency.
Last year, Sapco gave Akon two weeks to begin work on the development or risk forfeiting the land in Mbodiène, about 80 km south-east 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 US$1.2bil 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.
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 US$7bil 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 US$1.8bil of funding.
That may hamper Senegal’s hopes of raising US$1.08bil from private investors.
The government will provide the other US$120mil.
“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 55ha 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 centre, a basketball court and a small information centre.
Akon, a Senegalese-American singer, has retained eight ha of land that will form part of a bigger project covering over 500 ha 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. — Bloomberg
