Senegal has terminated plans for Akon City, a US$6 billion futuristic metropolis proposed by singer-entrepreneur Akon in 2018, after repeated construction delays and financing shortfalls left only an unfinished reception building on the 800-hectare coastal site at Mbodiène. “The Akon City project no longer exists,” Serigne Mamadou Mboup, head of state-backed tourism developer Sapco, told the BBC. Mboup said the government reclaimed roughly 90 % of the land last week, but struck a deal allowing Akon to keep eight hectares and collaborate on a scaled-down scheme. Sapco intends to seek private funding for a CFA 665 billion (about US$1.2 billion) development featuring hotels, apartments, a marina and a lagoon promenade, positioning the area for a tourism boost before Dakar hosts the 2026 Youth Olympic Games. The decision follows a 2024 ultimatum that gave Akon two weeks to resume work or lose the concession. The venture struggled to attract capital after Akoin, the cryptocurrency meant to underpin the city’s economy, plunged in value from US$0.15 at launch in 2020 to fractions of a cent, prompting investor complaints and regulatory questions from the West African central bank. Local residents who ceded land for the project say compensation is still outstanding, and Akon has acknowledged mismanagement, accepting “full responsibility” for the project’s collapse. Talks on the newly envisioned, more modest development are continuing, according to Sapco.