Akon wants his cryptocurrency to power the whole of Africa

Akon, the rapper-turned-crypto entrepreneur who’s building an entire city in his own name in Senegal, announced today that yet another African city will run on his cryptocurrency, Akoin.

Akoin, which is currently in beta and will launch later this year, will power the Mwale medical and technology city (MMTC), a $2 billion science and tech hub in Western Kenya. MMTC is “the Hamptons of New York in Kenya,” according to a 2018 promotional video that describes the vision of its creator, Julius Mwale. 

At the center of the city, which houses 35,000, is a 5,000 bed hospital called Hamptons Hospital. The hospital is surrounded by thousands of homes, resorts, retail outlets and a 36-hole golf resort. The plan is to rework all of the city’s payments systems, which currently process 50 million transactions each year, so that they support Akoin. 

Why got to all of the bother? “I wanted to create something special for African citizens, especially financially, and give them a…