Akoin to rollout in Kenya following successful pilot
Akon’s ambitious project to create a major city functioning on his Akoin token in Senegal is looking more promising than ever, as the pilot experiment in Kenya was a cracking success
The initial pilot for Akoin, Akon’s cryptocurrency, was a great success as the testing at western Kenya’s Mwale Medical Technology City (MMTC) produced promising results for the project. Apart from the primary objective of constructing a whole crypto-run city in Senegal, $5 million worth of transactions per month are expected to be reached in MMTC, according to a spokesperson.
Mwale Medical Technology City is described as a newly built city encompassing a state-of-the-art medical and technology complex.
As Cointelegraph reported, the pilot involved locals having their salaries paid in Akoin, and having the transactions converted to cell phone minutes or other forms of exchange. They were also able to use it to pay for goods and services!
This will now lead to a rollout across all of Kenya!
With projections suggesting that monthly transactions will reach $2 billion by 2022, September of 2021 marks the date when full implementation will begin. The Akoin project is looking to achieve 5,000 workers within the first six months and 20,000 workers by the end of 2022. A major launching event is scheduled for September and both Akon and MMTC Founder Julius Mwale are expected to be in attendance to unveil Akoin’s national rollout across Kenya.
Akoin has been described as a cryptocurrency designed to help entrepreneurs, business owners and social activists transact locally without many of the impediments that inflict emerging markets in Africa.
The spokesperson explained: “A major launch event scheduled for September will include the launch of a new hospital wing in MMTC and the activation of Akoin across 5,000 beds at the Hamptons Hospital and 30,000 transactions per month, utilizing Akoin’s Atomic Swap technology, Merchant Services and Akoin Credit and Debit Cards.”
Local mobile-phone-based money transfer and micro-financing service M-Pesa will have a run for its money, as the spokesperson predicted that by the end of 2022, Akoin is expected to become the “second most popular payment platform after M-Pesa”.
Construction progress in Senegal
Back in June 2020, Akon received the green light from United States engineering firm KE International as they rewarded him with a $6 billion contract to build a cryptocurrency city in Senegal. $4 billion came from investors and will be going towards the first two phases of the city’s construction.
Expected to be completed by the end of 2023, the project is hoping to include a mall, residences, hotels, a police station, a school, a waste facility, a solar power plant, and a hospital campus. The complete city running entirely on Akoin is expected to be completed in 2029.
KE International also managed the construction of the $2 billion Mwale Medical and Technology City in Western Kenya. The project started in 2014 and is expected to be completed at the end of the year.
Akon City 2 in Uganda
In April Akon also announced that there are plans to build a second crypto city in Uganda for which the Ugandan government has given its backing to the new proposed project. Minister of State for Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Isaac Musumba, stated in a press conference that the government is willing to find land that is at least one square mile or bigger.
“A place suitable in Uganda that has not-less-than one square mile will be made available to him and his team so he can harness resources and investments, attract investors, manage the project, and have a city.”
However, the end goal for Akon is to unite the whole continent together and develop Africa as a whole, “whatever it takes”.
Akon also amplifies the need to educate people and give the opportunity for individuals to have access to certain information. Therefore, his team plan on flying professionals into Uganda to train the locals.
“We will be having some professionals that we plan to fly into Uganda that can train the locals and I think one of the things that we miss out in major countries is the access of information and we need to be properly trained not only just in construction but also the management of the property and then the maintenance of the properties.”
The new Akon city is scheduled to be ready by 2036 which Akon thinks is a very realistic goal.
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