Akon Says if ‘Every Single African American’ Moves to Senegal and Invests in His Smart City, They Will Be Millionaires

R&B singer Akon is hyping his centrally planned community in Senegal, the country of his childhood, promising that every African American who invests with him will become a millionaire. In addition, he says if they collectively leave the U.S. for Africa, they could do real damage to the country that has oppressed them so much.

The 50-year-old artist, whose real name is Aliaune Damala Badara Thiam, was born in St. Louis, Missouri, and spent much of his childhood in Senegal. Consequently, he is a big believer in Africa.

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The “Angel” singer is so sure about Africa that he has planned the construction of a new city in Senegal. He launched his settlement in 2020 with the cooperation of the country of Senegal with the hopes of creating a high-tech community with an economy based on his “Akoin” cryptocurrency.

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Akon — who has been repeatedly accused of mistreating women and in 2008 was seen on video punching a female fan in the face — was recently heard selling his pan-African city idea on a podcast called REVOLT. During the show, the singer claimed that the African continent is the “holy grail” for black Americans because its people need “everything.”

“Africa is in a position where if African Americans take position now, every single African American would be a millionaire without even thinking twice because there’s nothing that’s not needed over there,” Akon said. {snip}

The singer, who claimed in 2020 he was contemplating a run for president against Donald Trump, said that black people are the driving force behind America’s economy and could do the same in Africa.

We literally built America with our bare hands. Our labor, our sweat, our blood. But we’ve never — not only did we never get reparations for it, we never even got credit for it. We never even got recognized for it. And I think that’s what builds so much animosity and anger within our community itself, because we know how much our contribution is worth {snip}

“I mean, you name it. We’re leading in every single sector,” he told the podcast hosts. “Just imagine if we all just decided to just take all our bags, withdrew [sic] all our money, and go to Africa. Where would America be today? It would collapse overnight.”

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