(TIML NEWS) Akon is moving ahead with plans to create a futuristic pan-African city, announcing that construction will begin next year on the $6 billion project despite global tourism’s uncertain future.

Akon, who first announced his idea for the utopian city in 2018, has described it as a “real-life Wakanda”, comparing it to the technologically advanced fictional African metropolis portrayed in the blockbuster film Black Panther, construction will begin next year.