In an interview with Nick Cannon, the 'I Wanna Love You' hitmaker confirms he is building an entire city in Senegal, which will be run on renewable energy sources.
- Nov 27, 2019
AceShowbiz - Akon is making his dream city come true. The singer-turned-entrepreneur, who last year revealed his plan to build an entire city in Senegal, has given an update on the city called "Akon City" during an interview with Nick Cannon.
Stopping by Power 106 FM's morning radio show in Los Angeles, the 46-year-old confirmed his city has been under construction since March and will be completed in 10 years. "It's all renewable," he said, claiming that the whole city will be run on renewable energy sources.
The city will have its own airport. "It's going to have a real airport!" he said while laughing. "We doing it in stages," he explained. "We started construction in March, and stage two is going to be 2025. It's in Senegal, West Africa."
The record producer, who launched his own cryptocurrency called AKoin in 2017, hopes it will become the common currency in Akon City and wider Africa. "You might just go to [Africa] for vacation and when you transfer American dollars into they money, you might be transferring it into AKoins. That's the goal," he shared.
When Nick suggested that Akon must be a billionaire to be able to build his own city, the "Right Now (Na Na Na)" singer humbly replied, "I always felt like if you have to label yourself a billionaire, I don't even think billionaires label themselves billionaires. Because you have no idea [how much you're worth]."
He continued, "When I hear stuff like that, it makes me sad in such a way because when I travel I see so many things that happen. So many people that need... things to be resolved. And if you have a billion dollars sitting in the bank, while you have all these people suffering, it's crazy to me. 'It's like a waste of a billion dollars.' "
Akon was born in St. Louis, Missouri, but spent a significant part of his childhood in Senegal, before he moved with his family to Union City, New Jersey when he was 7. He calls Senegal his hometown.
