Musician and entrepreneur Akon is “seriously considering” challenging President Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election, Newsweek reports.
Born Aliaume Damala Badara Akon Thiam in Missouri, Akon recently launched his own cryptocurrency, called Akoin, in addition to his solar panel initiative, Akon Lighting Africa, which brings electricity to people in 15 African countries. He’s currently working on the Akoin Crypto City, a project to make a “cryptocurrency-driven” city, the first being in Senegal, which would act as a “free zone” and a “test market,” that could lead to similar projects in other countries.
“The first one will be an entertainment city for tourists and people outside of Africa to come and visit,” Akon told Newsweek. “My goal is to just encourage and attract people to come to Africa who have never been before, and just to get them excited to come. Africa's biggest issue is that people are afraid to go because they don't know what to expect.”
When asked if he’s going to run for president, Akon replied that he’s “been thinking about running for 2020 very seriously. But I didn't want to just do it because I feel like I want to continue doing what I'm doing and hope that builds me enough momentum [for people] to say, ‘You know what, if you run, we'll support you.’”
He added that he feels “a lot more unsafe” and “unempowered” under Trump.
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