Why is Elon Musk building a city in Africa?

I can’t say for certain, but here is my guess. Elon Musk is a dreamer. He likes to think of the impossible, as why not? Then how? And finally he makes it happen. From fast, affordable, self-driving transport on Earth and to Mars to fast internet and neural links he makes things happen.

He is already building a city called Starbase near the Mexican-Texan border for his Mars ambitions.

However, he also has plans to build a city in Botswana (a country just North of South Africa well know for its astounding natural environment, and it is currently the fastest growing economy in the world). The city is planned to be built near the capital, Gabarone, and the claims are for some Wakanda-like. There is also talk of a city in South Africa, near one of the capitals Cape Town.

Musk wants to call his new city Neo-gardens and make it a shining example of a smart city in Africa which can be used as a template elsewhere. It will be sustainably green, powered by Musk’s solar tech (SolarCity) and incorporating, from the very beginning, some of his large ideas like having 25% less roads than average cities as he believes that “everyone should live within walking distance of everything that they need”. He plans to have the city built by robots, and all the smaller scale construction like that of windows and furniture being produced locally. The entire city will be green in the sense of having an abundance of plant life throughout the city and rooftop gardens are a must. Think Singapore:

Musk’s goal is to eliminate poverty world wide long term and creating cities like this is a move towards that future. Such cities will not only provide jobs, but teach an entire generation a new way to live. Being a South African myself I can see how this will move us towards the kind of solar punk future which this city and many of Musk’s projects seem to be pushing the world.