Controversial Libertarian ‘Startup City’ Project Sued By Former Exec Amid Tense Africa Push

A controversial project to build private, self-governing cities is facing a defamation lawsuit from its former Africa lead, exposing deep internal fractures as it attempts to expand from Central America to the African continent. The legal battle comes amidst a swirl of online controversy and fierce debates about the model’s ethics and viability.

Magatte Wade, the Senegalese entrepreneur who was leading Próspera Africa’s efforts to establish its first autonomous “startup city” on the continent, has filed a lawsuit accusing the organisation and its principals of a malicious smear campaign. The suit, filed in a U.S. federal court in Wyoming, alleges that after her resignation, executives falsely told her business contacts she had committed crimes and attempted to embezzle over a million dollars.

This internal rupture strikes at the heart of Próspera’s ambitious and contentious plan to replicate its Honduran model in Africa. The project, which creates special economic zones (ZEDEs) operating with their own legal and regulatory systems, has been promoted as a radical solution for economic growth but criticised as a form of neocolonial corporate sovereignty.

The Lawsuit

According to the complaint, Wade joined forces with Próspera in 2022, bringing crucial on-the-ground networks to advance the project’s African ambitions. She helped forge key relationships in Uganda and Benin. However, by 2025, the relationship soured. Wade alleges her vision was sidelined, leading to her resignation last September.

The lawsuit claims CEO Erick Brimen, along with other executives, then launched a concerted effort to destroy her reputation. They allegedly convened a board meeting during her best friend’s funeral and began telling her African contacts, including Ugandan stakeholders Robert Kirunda and Kwame Rugunda, that she had “crossed critical lines” and likely committed crimes. They pointed to a proposed “2025 IP Assignment”—a good-faith attempt, Wade says, to formally separate her intellectual property from the company—as evidence of misconduct.

In a Substack post titled “Why I Sued Próspera Africa for Defamation,” Wade stated, “My reputation is of paramount importance to me, and I will defend it at all costs.” She framed the lawsuit as a necessary defense of her life’s work after private resolution failed.

A Model Mired in Controversy

Wade’s lawsuit brings internal turmoil into the open for a project already facing intense external scrutiny. Próspera’s flagship zone, a private libertarian enclave on the Honduran island of Roatan, has become a lightning rod for controversy. Backed by Silicon Valley figures like Peter Thiel, it operates as a for-profit, self-governing, private jurisdiction with ultra-low taxes and a custom legal “platform.”

It has faced fierce local opposition. Honduran communities complained of inadequate consultation and feared land grabs. Critics, including the UN, argue such zones grant private investors excessive sovereignty, undermining human rights and state authority.

Following the election of President Xiomara Castro, Honduras repealed the ZEDE law in 2022. Próspera’s investors responded by filing an USD 11 B lawsuit against the state at the World Bank’s arbitration court—a sum equal to about two-thirds of Honduras’s annual budget. Critics have denounced the move as a neocolonial tactic to intimidate a sovereign government.

The project’s African expansion push has been accompanied by a separate social media firestorm. Recent online discourse, amplified by figures like internationally-acclaimed journalist David Hundeyin, who says he came close to joining the project, has swirled with allegations that Próspera’s billionaire backers aim to establish a “sovereign colony” in Benin for illegal human experimentation.

The original Próspera Roatan was set up to operate with the authority of a Honduran legal framework granting it significant autonomy over its own laws, police, and administration. While on-and-off debates on social media allege its primary purpose is illegal “drug testing and human experimentation,” on-the-ground reporting describes it as a hub for libertarian-minded entrepreneurs, crypto investors, biohackers, and longevity startups operating in a regulatory environment far more permissive than in the United States or Europe.

Although specific claims of illegal human experimentation are unverified, they appear to stem from the real and controversial activities within the original Próspera in Honduras. A district within it called Vitalia has become a hub for biohacking and experimental gene therapy trials.

Proponents champion this “medical libertarianism” as a way to accelerate innovation by slashing regulatory “red tape.” Critics warn it gambles with patient safety by allowing treatments to market before long-term risks are fully understood. This radical approach to regulation fuels the darker conjectures about the project’s ultimate goals.

The recent uproar among concerned observers in Africa tie the project to a “consortium of racist billionaire bros,” specifically naming Thiel and alluding to Elon Musk. While direct evidence of a Próspera Africa deal in Benin is absent from public records, the ideological links provide context. Thiel and Musk, both part of the so-called “PayPal Mafia,” share a libertarian worldview shaped in part by their childhoods in apartheid-era South Africa.

Musk, whose company X is the platform where these allegations spread, has been embroiled in racially charged disputes with South Africa over black empowerment laws he calls “racist” and has promoted the unfounded conspiracy theory of “white genocide” in the country.

Converging Crises

Before the lawsuit, Próspera, under Wade’s leadership, was actively marketing its model to a dozen African nations, with Benin and Rwanda reported as leading candidates at one point. The pitch was for a reformed version of the Honduran project. Wade had emphasised partnerships with “down-to-earth” entrepreneurs, a focus on job creation, and ensuring the host government retained a seat on the governing council.

“I want ordinary Africans to see themselves in these projects,” Wade said at a summit in mid-2025, pledging a commitment to human rights and a focus on commercial law reform rather than broad sovereignty.

However, the shadow of the controversy in Honduras looms large over the African expansion and the recent online agitations reflect major concerns.

Wade’s lawsuit now presents a more immediate and personal crisis for Próspera. Her allegations of ruthless tactics to control networks and sabotage reputations may fuel existing criticisms about the project’s governance and ethics. The complaint suggests that without her connections, Próspera Africa’s ambitions are severely weakened, providing a motive for the alleged smear campaign.

Wade, once the face of Próspera’s African vision, is now leading a very public charge against it, turning a business divorce into a messy legal clash that threatens to undermine the project’s credibility on the continent it seeks to enter.