Akon wants to build a real "Wakanda" in Senegal with a virtual currency
The Senegalese rapper, Akon, announces that he plans to release a new cryptocurrency called Akoin.
The author of Locked Up said that cryptocurrency could be "the savior of Africa".
AKoin's official website says the singer wants the app to be "on every mobile phone" by December.
Alioune Badara Thiam, his real name, also announces that he plans to build a "crypto-city" in Senegal that he will call "a real Wakanda".
Like the fictional land of Wakanda in Marvel's Black Panther movie, Akon promises that his city will have a "futuristic environment".
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The website says Akon has "received" 2,000 hectares of land from the Senegalese president to build the city - which also bears his name.
Akon Crypto City will not be far from Dakar, the capital of Senegal.
According to him, it will be "the first 100% crypto city with AKoin at the center of transactional life".
In the framework of "Akoin Ecosystem", consumers will be able to buy, keep and spend crypto-currencies directly from their smartphones.
"It restores power to the people and brings security back into the monetary system," said Akon.
"It also allows people to use it so they can move forward and not allow the government to do what prevents them from working."
However, Akon admitted that he did not know all the technical aspects of his new venture.
"I come with concepts and let the geeks understand it," he said.
Other companies from Akon in Africa
AKoin is one of the many projects announced by Akon in Africa.
While born in Missouri, Akon is of Senegalese descent and spent much of his childhood there.
In 2007, he co-founded the Konfidence Foundation, a charity for health and education for underprivileged children in West Africa and the United States.
He also co-founded the Akon Lighting Africa project in 2014, which, according to the Akon site, has so far brought solar energy to 18 African countries.
