Akon’s Crypto City
Musician and entrepreneur Akon grew up in Senegal before moving to New Jersey where his talents were discovered in ‘03. He quickly rose to stardom with hit after hit on the radio and began to write for other artists as well. From 2010 to 2018, Akon’s music became less of a focus as he pursued other interests. In 2018 he announced plans to build a crypto-based city in Senegal to increase tourism.
Akoin
The city’s currency will be Akoin, Akon’s crypto. The 6 billion dollar phase one includes a hospital, roads, shops, schools, a stadium, a police station, a solar power system, and more. Phase one will be completed by 2023, and phase two will run to the end of 2029, the end seeing a full crypto city ready for tourists.
He plans to partner with a green city in western Kenya called Mwale Medical and Technology City. Both cities will be using blockchain to complete akoin transactions. Visitors can even convert their prepaid cellphone minutes into akoin. This is significant because having a blockchain system allows people from all different places to easily trade with each other in an instant without hurdles or transaction fees. Developing economies can have trouble growing with a lack of infrastructure, so Akon’s crypto city aims to dissolve barriers to entry.
Entrepreneurs
The digital economy is booming in the western world, but many African freelancers struggle moving business from local to global. Crypto can help change that. Because most African countries use different currencies, it was formerly very difficult to trade between them due to transaction fees. Operating out of or bringing your products to the crypto market allows you to avoid this.
Akoin is a digital wallet that allows entrepreneurs to seamlessly exchange currencies and easily spend them. This will allow African owners to grow their business while global companies access hard to reach demographics. Crypto City will act as a blank canvas for helping innovators to figure out how we can implement blockchain technology into our daily lives.
