Akon was asked to speak at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity on the topic of “Branding Africa: Blockchain, Entrepreneurship and Empowering the Future.”

But he surprised his audience by deciding to pitch a new cryptocurrency controlled by him as a solution to Africa's development - saying investing in his cryptocurrency will help him to create and power what he's calling a ‘real-life Wakanda’.

The early outline of the project is described as:

"AKoin is a new cryptocurrency from visionary changemaker Akon and is the foundation of the AKoin Ecosystem -- a unique global project that offers an abundance of digital and in-real-life platforms and experiences that create opportunity and inclusion for youth entrepreneurs by allowing consumers to buy, hold, and spend cryptocurrency right from their smartphone through a suite of blockchain-powered apps.

The AKoin Ecosystem unlocks the potential of the world's largest emerging economy through the creation of a stable currency and innovative, revenue-generating opportunities that stimulate and support youth entrepreneurship, economic stability, and growth across Africa and the world.

Created by Grammy-nominated, multi-platinum selling artist, producer, entrepreneur, and philanthropist Akon, who successfully founded and grew Akon Lighting Africa to provide scaled solar power solutions throughout 18 countries to date in Africa, the AKoin Ecosystem's exclusive suite of sustainability and growth-building crypto-based apps offer immediate and ongoing new revenue generating opportunities to stimulate micro-exchanges and financial stability.

And while the opportunities to buy, hold, and spend Akoin to power youth entrepreneurs on the digital platform and from anywhere in the world are vast, consumers will also be able to engage with AKoin in an entirely new way when they visit the real-life Wakanda of Akon Crypto City."

When questioned about some of the specific blockchain technology that will be used to turn his plans into reality, Akon says:

“I come with the concepts and let the geeks figure it out.”

At the same panel discussion Akon also says he may challenge Donald Trump in 2020.

In the past, Akon was caught lying to earn 'street cred' by claiming he went to jail and served 2 years for being part of a car theft ring - the story behind one of his biggest hits "Locked Up".  The investigative reporting website "The Smoking Gun" investigated the claims and and found no records of convictions.