Akon is Building Metropolis Called Akon City in This African Country

Akon is moving forward with plans to build a “real-life Wakanda.”

The 47-year-old entertainer announced on Monday (August 31) that construction on his $6 billion project will begin in Senegal, Africa, comparing it the technologically advanced fictional African place portrayed in Black Panther.

Akon said that he hopes the project, named Akon City, will provide much-needed jobs for the Senegalese and will also serve as a “home back home” for Black Americans and others facing racial injustices.

“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,” Akon said in a statement via THR. “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 was born in the United States to Senegalese parents, spending a lot of his time in the West African country.

Akon City will include its own hotel, a seaside resort, a tech hub, recording studios and an area named “Senewood” to help develop a Senegal film industry. Akon also revealed that structures will be made with metal and glass, instead of wood.

Plans eventually call for Akon City to have its own hospital, police station, and even its own cryptocurrency already named AKoin.

Akon said that the Akon City has already secured about one-third of the $6 billion needed. Construction is planned to begin next year, but the first phase of the project could take more than three years to complete.