Elon Musk seeks to make peace with Africa, Kenya in tour

Elon Musk Africa tour will see him meet developers and politicians in Nairobi on June 13. [File, Standard] The much-publicised Elon Musk Africa tour will see him meet developers and politicians in Nairobi on June 13, The Standard can now reveal. However, Kenya will be his second destination with the Tesla and SpaceX boss first visiting Cape Town in his country of birth, South Africa. His third stop, which could be the last, will be in Casablanca, Morocco, before he attends a high-level tech summit in Glasgow, Scotland. While this trip has been talked about for weeks now, it was unclear, until two days ago, what countries the billionaire is likely to visit. Mr Musk's camp's director, Mart Scott, in the first subtle hint at Mr Musk's potential Nairobi visit, said during a news conference in Washington: "We have huge plans for Kenya, which is the gateway to East and Central Africa. Starlink will revolutionize communications in Africa- and every gateway will be important." An excited pro-government legislator told us Sunday that this is yet the biggest endorsement of the current regime. Mr Musk will be received like a head of state, said the MP, and he could be asked to address a joint sitting of both houses of Parliament. "Technically, he is the closest thing to Donald Trump that we will hope to see in Kenya," said the legislator, who declined to be named for fear of reprisal by his party leader. "Nairobi will come to a standstill to pay respect to a king." Insiders say that top hotels in some of Kenya's biggest getaways have been contacted, with one, in specific, confirming that it was asked to be ready for "a very special guest" by what it termed as "American intelligence". It is rumoured that Mr Musk could be preparing to open a technology hub in Nairobi, as well as a Tesla manufacturing plant, but this remains to be seen. Late last year, Mr Musk hailed Kenya's software engineers who reached the finals of the World Softonic Competathon held in Rome, Italy, eventually losing to China, the US and Germany. His newfound dalliance with Kenya, which has been kept relatively low-key, could attract many more investors into the country, catapulting it to the top of the list of Africa's biggest economies. Born in South Africa, Elon Musk made a name for himself in The US, where he has started and ran a number of successful multi-billion dollar companies. Tesla, X, SpaceX, Starlink and The Boring Company are some of his most famous companies. In addition to these, he has taken a key role in government, running the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) since President Trump's January swearing in. DOGE is meant to manage the spending of American taxpayers' money, therefore creating transparency in government. While he is labeled a genius by some, there are those who strongly feel he is interfering with pre-established ways of running government, the ire palpable among Democrats who insist Mr Musk was never elected by Americans and thus should not be at the heart of government operations. However, President Trump has defended Mr Musk fiercely, calling him "a tremendous man" and insisting that he is the only American "who can get things done at that level". While it seems like a long shot, some hope that Mr Musk's visit to Kenya will pave the way for Mr Trump's, a decade since former president Barack Obama was in Nairobi. Alongside leaders who have been promised an interview opportunity and lunch with Mr Musk, a few university students will also be allowed a chance to interact with him at a special luncheon which could be held at The State House, according to insider information. Further, one of the top-rated governors is lobbying to have Mr Musk fly over his county, which is near the city, to have a glimpse of what the county government is trying to do, to acquire more funding for projects. It remains to be seen if some of these more unorthodox requests will be accepted. Kindly note that this was a Fool's Day story.....

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