Platinum Performer Akon Launches Cryptocurrency In Africa
Platinum-selling performer and philanthropist Akon wants to build his own city in Senegal and launch his own cryptocurrency as the central form of exchange. Speaking on Monday, June 18th, at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, on a panel titled “Branding Africa: Blockchain, Entrepreneurship and Empowering the Future,” the Grammy-nominated singer of “Don’t Matter” and “I Wanna Love You” discussed his plans for AKoin, a branded form of cryptocurrency.
According to PageSix’s panel report, Akon said blockchain technology and cryptocurrency could be “the savior for Africa in many ways” because of its high security factor. He said the app-based system “allows the people to utilize it in ways where they can advance themselves and not allow government to do those things that are keeping them down.”
An initial information blurb posted by ICO Impact Group lays out a much more ambitious plan: a “100% crypto-based city with AKoin at the center of transactional life,” to be built in Senegal. (Akon was born in St. Louis, Missouri but is of Senegalese descent, and he spent significant parts of his childhood in Senegal.) The planned community would be called Akon Crypto City.
