In a bid to make a step towards a financially-secure future for Africa, award-winning singer Akon has announced that he is planning to build his very own city in Senegal with its own crypto-currency called AKoin. The project might sound ambitious and even a little far-fetched, but he thinks it's what the country needs.

Akon performing live in 2017Akon performing live in 2017

With all the interest in Bitcoin, developments in crypto-currency is quickly becoming a part of the future, and Akon is weighing in on that popularity with his very own AKoin. Who will be using it? The population of his new 2,000 acre city built in his home nation of Senegal, where he spent most of his childhood after being born in Missouri.

It's all part of his Lighting Africa initiative, which is all about saving Africa with renewable energy and increasing the quality of life for people who need it within the continent. As for his new city, it's going to be a 'futuristic' venture making use of the land that Akon was given by the President of Senegal, which lies within easy reach of an airport, the coast and the capital city of Dakar.

'I think that blockchain and crypto could be the savior for Africa in many ways', he said at Cannes Lions 2018. 'It brings the power back to the people and brings the security back into the currency system and also 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.'

Of course, Akon doesn't know exactly how it's all going to work. He has a team of experts - or 'geeks' as he called them - to 'figure it out'. It's an incredible concept even if there's only a small likelihood that it's going to turn out exactly how Akon is picturing it. And you might be wondering where the funding is coming from since he hasn't toured for seven years and his last album was ten years ago. But then he does have shares in a South African diamond mine.