Akon’s Crypto City Moves Ahead Awarding $6B Construction Contract

United States engineering firm KE International awarded Senegalese-American singer and entrepreneur Akon with a $6 billion contract to build a cryptocurrency city in Senegal.

According to a June 4 announcement, KE International secured $4 billion from investors for the first two phases of Akon City’s construction. Akon first announced plans to build the city in January. The firm has now confirmed the deal and added more details about the project.

A crypto-driven city

The first phase of Akon City’s development is expected to be completed by the end of 2023. By the end of this phase, the complex will include a mall, residences, hotels, a police station, a school, a waste facility, a solar power plant, and a hospital campus.

The second phase is expected to be completed in 2029 and is expected to deliver a complete city entirely running on the Akoin cryptocurrency. As Cointelegraph reported in mid-March, Akoin is a cryptocurrency designed for entrepreneurs in developing countries such as Africa.

KE International is also managing the construction of the $2 billion Mwale Medical and Technology City in Western Kenya. The project started in 2014 and is expected to be completed at the end of the year.

The complex is already 85% complete and includes a 5,000-bed hospital, which opened to the public last year. Interestingly, this hospital also partnered with Akon to leverage its Akoin cryptocurrency for transactions.