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Futuristic cities, governed by special legal rules and using only renewable energy. This is the vision of Akon, a rapper and businessman from the cryptocurrency industry. The artist plans to build two cities in Africa that will be based on technology blockchain.
Akon, born in the USA, but with Senegalese roots, rapper and R&B singer, is increasingly expanding his business portfolio. In Poland, the artist was particularly popular at the beginning of the XNUMXst century, and his hit "Lonely" was a hit on the charts for a long time. Today, Akon invests in the industry cryptocurrency and is especially eager to look towards Africa. Ugandan television reported that the businessman intends to build a crypto-city in this country.
- We do not know the details of the investment yet, but we can assume that it will be a project similar to several others already under construction. Cryptocurrencies are places with a special legal order that is very friendly to digital currency. Investments in this place, paid for e.g. with Bitcoin or Akoin, are either tax-exempt or preferential treatment. In return, companies offer jobs and fuel an investment boom by attracting new entrepreneurs - explains Jarosław Stankiewicz, COO of Geco.one, a modern platform for trading digital assets, which is a member of the Polish-Estonian Chamber of Commerce.
Neither Akon nor the Ugandan government provided any information on the estimated cost of building the city to the announcer of the project. The artist stated that Akon City, Uganda, would be completed by 2036. The city is to have an area of approx. 1,5 thousand. km2, i.e. it will be approximately three times larger than Warsaw.
- I know that if I build a cryptocurrency there, the Ugandans will find a way to seize the opportunity. When you create opportunities, people feel motivated to seize the opportunity - Akon emphasized during the press conference.
Smart schools, hospitals, power plants
Another futuristic project of Akon is a "smart city" in Senegal. The investment is worth $ 6 billion, and the project itself covers 2 acres. The area is close to the ocean and relatively close to the new Dakar International Airport.
- Both cities are to use the Akoin (AKN) cryptocurrency based on the Stellar blockchain. The innovation doesn't stop there. The assumptions are that cities will be powered only by renewable energy - explains Jarosław Stankiewicz from the Geco.one digital asset trading platform.
The first two stages of the construction of the Senegalese city should be completed by 2029. The project includes, among others construction of roads, hospital campus, shopping mall, hotels, residences, school, police station, waste disposal plant and solar power plant.
- The Akoin project is also used, among others in Kenya, where Akon creates a special medical facility. The ANC will be a fully implemented token within this medical-technological city. It will be used to pay employees' salaries as well as everyday payment transactions - underlines Stankiewicz and gives another example: - The artist's company also presented an AKN debit card. It allows owners to spend Akoin in 40 million online stores around the world.
Not only African deserts
Cryptocurrencies may arise not only in Africa, but also in the USA. One of them wants to build Jeffrey Berns, CEO of a blockchain incubator and investment firm Blockchains LLC. The American intends to start building a cryptocurrency "smart city" in the Nevada desert in 2021. His company has already bought 170 km of land for $ 217 million2.
If the Nevada state authorities agree to Berns' proposals, a kind of autonomous self-government unit will be created there. It would have powers similar to the US counties, which means, inter alia, introducing payments with digital currencies into everyday circulation, as well as the possibility of imposing taxes or creating your own courts.
The plan is long term. Berns assumes that up to 75 houses will be built on the purchased land within 15 years. The CEO of Blockchains LLC announces that the smart city will also include an esports arena, a content creation studio and a campus. Berns has a comprehensive approach to his project. He wants people to be able to create new applications of blockchain technology in his city, including believes that voting can be based on this as well as the safeguarding of financial statements, medical records and other sensitive personal data.
