Akon to build the second African crypto-city in Uganda

Uganda’s government has reportedly allocated land to Akon for the crypto-city development project in the country. 

Senegalese-American rapper and well-known businessperson, Akon, is ready to build another crypto-city in Uganda (East Africa) to accelerate crypto adoption in Africa. According to a report by NBS, Uganda’s flagship television network, the country’s government seconded this motive by allocating land for the project. 

The Akon City in Uganda will occupy one square mile half the size of the City of London (not to be confused with Greater London, which makes up the majority of the U.K. capital). Akon is also building a much larger crypto-city in Senegal for $6 billion, with the project covering 2,000 acres or about 3.12 square miles. And both futuristic cities will utilize Akon’s Stellar blockchain-based cryptocurrency Akoin (AKN).

The crypto-city project in Uganda is also accompanied by naysayers, who question its feasibility. However, the artist believes that the project would birth lots of opportunities in the country.

“I know if I put it there, they [Ugandans] are going to find a way to afford it because it is going to motivate them […] Ultimately when you create an opportunity, people learn with that opportunity [and] people are motivated with that opportunity.”

But Akon and the Ugandan government are yet to provide details about the estimated cost of the project. Akon further stated that the crypto city would attract more investors to the country, create employment opportunities for Ugandans, and many more. The Akon City in Uganda is expected to be completed by 2036.

Other crypto projects handled by Akon

Besides the two crypto cities in two African nations, the Akoin project (headed by Akon) is also partnering with the $2 billion Mwale medical metropolis in Kenya. As reported by Cointelegraph, AKN is set for full deployment within the medical and tech city and will be used for staff salaries and everyday payment transactions. The Akoin team also debuted an AKN debit card that allows holders to spend Akoin across 40 million online merchants anywhere in the world.

Earlier last week, Akon launched the AkoinNFT in partnership with Taqo.io to empower artists. According to Akon, the NFT will help artists create a sustainable structure in the industry through the execution of NFTs covering unique collaborations across music, photography, art, sports, gaming, brands, influencers, animation, etc.

In all, this is an open call to other industry leaders to facilitate crypto adoption and increase its use-cases in Africa.