Music star Akon has ambitious plans to develop a new futuristic city in his home country of Senegal – with one of the masterminds behind the design set to speak at our Development Opportunities in Africa Conference.

For a number of years people have said it’s more of a dream – that it wont happen. But this technologically advanced new city is moving ahead as spades finally hit the floor a few months ago.

The 800-hectare site (around 750 football pitches for reference…) is backed by the Senegalese Government and a number of investors are backing the project with over 1/3 of the 10 year project being funded according to the latest information.

The visuals are incredible – but it’s not just the visuals and the designs which are state-of-the-art. The development will be solar-powered, it will rely on smartphone use, the city will use its own cryptocurrency and the development will create a thriving tourist industry and create valuable jobs in the area at a time when private investment is needed following the economic impact of Covid-19. There is even designs to create artificial islands and a marina which can accommodate cruise ships to boost tourism in the city.

One of the attractions of the new city will be for African Americans facing racial discrimination, he said: “The system in the US treats people unfairly in so many different ways that you can never imagine. They only go through it because they feel there is no other way. If you’re coming from America or Europe or elsewhere in the disapora and you feel that you want to visit Africa, we want Senegal to be your first stop.”

KE International are contracted to help create the city and they say it “will define a new paradigm in design and architecture for Africa” with other cities planned such as the Mwale Medical and Technologicial City in Kenya.

Work on the city is set to start properly this year – with completion of the first phase by 2023. The initial phase will cover 55 hectares but by the end of the decade around 500 hectares will have been developed.

To discover more about this and other development projects across Africa register today for the Development Opportunities in Africa Conference: https://www.built-environment-networking.com/event/development-opportunities-africa/