Senagalese-American artist, Akon has launched his own cryptocurrency called Akoin. He is planning to build a smart city in Senegal and whose entire economy around a new cryptocurrency named after himself.
The music producer unveiled the project at a creative festival in Cannes, where he spoke at a panel titled Branding Africa: Blockchain, Entrepreneurship and Empowering the Future.
He told the audience at the Festival that his proposed cryptocurrency – dubbed AKoin – could be “The savior of Africa in many ways” because of how secure it would be.
It would all be based on a mobile app, which he said would allow citizens of Akon Crypto City “to utilize it in ways where they can advance themselves and not allow the government to do those things that are keeping them down”.
According to the AKoin official website, the project has already been gifted 2,000 square acres of land for his planned city by Senegalese President Macky Sall.
And his ambitions do not stop there, as during the same panel he also put his name forward as a potential US presidential candidate in 2020. The Don’t Matter singer said he was hoping to “go after” both Donald Trump and rapper Kanye West, who has also expressed an interest in running for office in future. “It’s perfect, a master plan,” he reportedly said.