American singer Akon placed the first stone in Senegal for a new green futuristic area, called ‘Akon city.’
The Senegal-born artist RnB says much about the project is supporting African American people, who don’t understand their culture. Akon is Senegalese-born in the United States.
“I wanted to build a city or a project like this that will give them the motivation to know that there is a home back home.” Akon said.
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“We want Senegal to be your first stop, just as you come from America , Europe or somewhere in the Diaspora and feel like you want to visit Africa.”
In the capital, where nearly four million people live, the new city being built south of Dakar will also try to relieve congestion and overcrowding.
The artist also said he wanted to show that while the coronavirus pandemic has “the world doubting their economies,” in Africa “a Senegalese, a businessman who could have remained in the US forever, chooses to come and invest in his own country.”
Akon rose to prominence in 2004 following the release of his singles “Locked Up” and “Lonely.” The architect Hussein Bakri is working on the project.
“I said: ‘Hussein I want my buildings to look like sculptures.’ You know when you travel and you’re a tourist and you buy these little statues. I said: ‘I need a building that looks like a statue that you can take home,” the artist said.