Read the latest news from regional and global sources, presenting different voices and perspectives.
Plans for Akon’s £5 billion city in Senegal scrapped after seven years
Mixmag
·
July 7, 2025
More than seven years after Akon first laid down plans to open his own city in Senegal with him confirming in 2022 that things were “100,000% moving forward”, the ambitious project has now been abandoned. Serigne Mamadou Mboup, head of Senegal’s...
The U.S. Is About To Slap The World's Most Positive Country With A Travel Ban
The Travel
·
July 7, 2025
The "New American Travel Anxiety" is real, and it's not limited to foreigners planning to visit the U.S. amid the Trump administration's controversial border policies. Experts also revealed that Trump's tariffs are impacting almost half of...
Senegal has officially abandoned plans for Akon City
NME
·
July 7, 2025
It looks like Senegal has officially abandoned its plans to develop a new city with help from Akon. The singer announced his ambition to build a city in his native country, which would use his own cryptocurrency Akoin, in the summer of 2018. For a...
Nigerian travellers pay N274,500 different taxes on each international flight – Findings
Business Hallmark
·
July 7, 2025
Air passengers flying out of Nigeria are paying one of the highest amounts in taxes and charges across Africa, with an average cost of $180 (N275,500) per international departure, nearly three times the continental average of $68, according to a...
Wakanda Never: Akon’s Futuristic City Dream Project, Worth $6 Billion, Ditched By Senegal
News18
·
July 5, 2025
Last Updated:July 05, 2025, 19:52 IST Akon who was born in the US but partly raised in Senegal, announced in 2018 to develop a tech-driven, eco-friendly utopia for the global Black community. Phase one alone was to include a hospital, a shopping...
Senegal ditches Akon's 'unrealistic' city project
Africanews
·
July 4, 2025
Touted as a high-tech utopia powered by renewable energy and bankrolled by its own cryptocurrency, Akon City was ambitious as it was daring. Designed with curvy skyscrapers and sleek modern infrastructure, early renderings of Akon City drew...
Huge £4.4bn seaside city with bendy skyscraper designed by Akon suffers blow
The Mirror
·
July 8, 2025
Ambitious plans to build an uber-futuristic city by the coast to the tune of $6 billion (£4.4bn) has hit a major setback. Bizarrely spearheaded by singer-songwriter Alioune Badara Thiam (commonly known as Akon), the mega project aimed to transform...
Can ECOWAS Protocol Be Reimagined? Tour Operators Chart New Path For Seamless Regional Travel
The Will
·
July 5, 2025
July 05, (THEWILL) — In a daring action to reshape West Africa’s travel and tourism terrain, top-tier holiday facilitators convened at Accraweizo to spotlight the loopholes in the ECOWAS border pact. From frontier slowdowns to lack of regional...
Africa's smallest mainland country that's so beautiful but ignored by tourists
Daily Express
·
July 5, 2025
Africa's smallest mainland country is one of the best to visit on the continent, according to tourists. There are more than 50 countries in Africa, and many of them have become popular with tourists over the last few decades. In the northern half...
More than a meal: Making African food the heart of our tourism story
Graphic
·
July 5, 2025
What is Ghana’s staple food? This is a question I find surprisingly difficult to answer every time I travel and someone asks me. It’s not because we don’t have delicious meals — we absolutely do. The problem is that I don’t think we can agree on...
More Than an Expo
Beijing Review
·
The 2025 (China) Eurasia Commodity and Trade Expo opens in Urumqi, capital city of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, on June 26 (LI FANGFANG) For Iranian businessman Behzad Nouri, his first trip to Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, one of...
Akon’s $6 billion ‘Wakanda’ city dream project abandoned by Senegal
The Times of India
·
July 5, 2025
Wakanda, the dazzling, ultra-advanced African kingdom from Marvel’s Black Panther, captured the world’s imagination with its soaring skyscrapers, clean energy, and revolutionary technology. Among its many admirers was global pop star Akon, who set...
Accra Weizo 2025: ECOWAS to rid bottlenecks, enforce free movement for seamless travel
The Guardian (Nigeria)
·
July 5, 2025
The challenges facing West African borders are not just about protocols but implementation, thus, to have regular migration, it is imperative that implementation of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) protocols works – there...
Senegal: Ousmane Sonko's defamation conviction upheld by Supreme Court
Africanews
·
July 3, 2025
No more appeals, case closed: Senegal's Supreme Court confirmed on Tuesday that it would uphold the defamation conviction for current prime minister Ousmane Sonko. The politician was convicted of defamation after he insulted tourism minister Mame...
Senegal’s top court upholds PM’s defamation conviction
African Insider
·
July 3, 2025
Dakar – Senegal’s Supreme Court has upheld a defamation conviction against Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko, validating a verdict which had prevented him from running for president in the country’s last election. The top court had already in January...
Akon’s futuristic $6bn city project in Senegal abandoned
Ghana Broadcasting Corporation
·
July 4, 2025
Plans for a futuristic city in Senegal dreamt up by the singer Akon have been scrapped, and instead he will work on something more realistic, officials say. “The Akon City project no longer exists,” Serigne Mamadou Mboup, the head of Senegal’s...
Akon's futuristic $6 billion city project in Senegal abandoned - Reports
GhanaWeb
·
July 4, 2025
Plans for a futuristic city in Senegal dreamt up by the singer Akon have been scrapped and instead he will work on something more realistic, officials say. "The Akon City project no longer exists," Serigne Mamadou Mboup, the head of Senegal's...
Akon's futuristic $6billion city in Senegal 'has been SCRAPPED' and will be swapped for 'a realistic project'
Daily Mail
·
July 4, 2025
Akon's grand plans to build a £4.3 billion futuristic city in Senegal have officially been scrapped five years after the singer promised to turn a remote stretch of West African coastline into a real-life Wakanda. The Senegalese government has...
Akon's futuristic $6bn city project in Senegal abandoned, BBC told
BBC
·
Nicolas Négoce, Natasha Booty & Jonathan GriffinBBC News ShareSave Some compared the designs to the awe-inspiring fictional city of Wakanda Plans for a futuristic city in Senegal dreamt up by the singer Akon have been scrapped and instead he will...
Five drownings on Spain’s beaches mark ‘quick and silent’ epidemic that kills hundreds each year
Olive Press
·
July 4, 2025
SPAIN’S beaches have claimed five lives in just one week, highlighting what medical experts describe as a ‘silent epidemic’ that kills between 400 and 600 people annually across the country. The deaths underscore warnings from Spain’s Society of...