institutional access

You are connecting from
Lake Geneva Public Library,
please login or register to take advantage of your institution's Ground News Plan.

Published loading...Updated

Senegal Abandons $6 Billion Akon City for Scaled-Back Tourism Development

SENEGAL, JUL 4 – Senegalese authorities cited funding failures and legal hurdles for abandoning the $6 billion Akon City project after five years of delays and incomplete construction, officials said.

  • Senegalese authorities formally abandoned the $6 billion Akon City project, initially announced in 2018 and located on an 800-hectare site in Mbodine near Senegal's coast.
  • The project stalled due to halted construction, missed payments, legal challenges, and Akon acknowledging mismanagement and his full responsibility for the failure.
  • By mid-2024, only a half-finished reception building existed, while local residents expressed frustration over missed job promises and unfulfilled economic benefits.
  • The leader of Senegal’s tourism agency, Sapco, confirmed that the Akon City initiative has been discontinued, adding that a practical new plan is currently being developed with Akon's active participation and full backing from Sapco.
  • The cancellation highlights risks in celebrity-led megaprojects and unproven cryptocurrencies amid Senegal’s effort to boost tourism with a scaled-back plan on strategically valuable land.
Insights by Ground AI
Does this summary seem wrong?

18 Articles

Africa NewsAfrica News
Reposted by
Cryptocurrency News | Cryptocurrency Prices | Market CapCryptocurrency News | Cryptocurrency Prices | Market Cap
Lean Left

Senegal ditches Akon's 'unrealistic' city project

Designed with curvy skyscrapers and sleek infrastructure, early renderings of Akon City drew comparisons to Marvel's fictional African metropolis Wakanda

·Pointe-Noire, Congo
Read Full Article
Think freely.Subscribe and get full access to Ground NewsSubscriptions start at $9.99/yearSubscribe

Bias Distribution

  • 43% of the sources lean Left
43% Left

Factuality 

To view factuality data please Upgrade to Premium

Ownership

To view ownership data please Upgrade to Vantage

Newsweek broke the news in United States on Friday, July 4, 2025.
Sources are mostly out of (0)

You have read 1 out of your 5 free daily articles.