Akon is making plans to build a second Akon City — this time in Uganda.
The singer made the announcement via a news conference that aired on NBS Uganda on Monday, where he revealed he had acquired one square mile to create Akon City.
The city will be powered by his digital currency, AKoin, and is slated to be completed by 2036.
“I know if I put it there, they’re going to find a way to afford it because it’s going to motivate them,” Akon said when asked how he would fund the city. “But ultimately when you create an opportunity, people grow with that opportunity, people learn with that opportunity, people are motivated with that opportunity.”
Last September, Akon unveiled his plans for the first Akon City development. Senegalese nationals will be encouraged to live and work in the $6 billion smart city and members of the African Diaspora would also be welcome. The 2,000-acre city will feature a luxury resort, high-rise condos, recording studios, a stadium and will also be powered by AKoin.
“I want the buildings to look like real African sculptures that they make in the villages,” Akon said at the time. The smart city is to help boost the country’s economy and create local jobs.
“The system back home treats them unfairly in so many different ways that you can never imagine. And they only go through it because they feel that there is no other way,” he told AP. “So if you’re coming from America or Europe or elsewhere in the diaspora and you feel that you want to visit Africa, we want Senegal to be your first stop.”
Akon asserts that his cities will have cutting-edge technology.
“We want all the latest in future technologies,” he previously said. “I don’t want nothing from the old days. I want it all to be based on tomorrow’s technology, and how it’s gonna be built for our future because all the latest technology now is all instruments and minerals, and resources taken from Africa. I’m already in Africa, so we can build everything within the African continent without having to outsource anything from the outside.”
