Celebrity rapper and serial entrepreneur Kanye West has revealed that he has been in talks with the President of Haiti to develop a portion of Tortuga Island into a “city of the future.” Kanye said the futuristic city aims to benefit the locals on the island.
“We go to Haiti and the president gives us this island to develop; to make it a city of the future,” Kanye said in an interview on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast. “We’re gonna have the farmers and the people that live there take ownership of the land they have right now so when it raises in value, they all eat.”Kanye traveled to Haiti with Iranian-American venture capitalist Shervin Pishevar last September and that’s when President Moïse offered to give them the land.
However, the idea didn’t seem to sit well with Haitians and even other people on social media. Others think that it is just an attempt at neo-colonialism and criticized Kanye’s involvement in it. Kanye was quick to address the issue on Twitter.
He tweeted: “Just to be CLEAR: WE ARE IN ENGAGED WITH HAITI’s GOVERNMENT to make a transformational INVESTMENT to bring JOBS, DEVELOPMENT, HELP SUPPORT LOCAL FARMERS and FISHERMEN and Build a new « CITY OF THE FUTURE » in a very beautiful country.”
Blackbusiness.com
