AFRIPOL PERSON OF THE YEAR: ELON MUSK

ELON MUSK: AFRIPOL PERSON OF THE YEAR

Elon Musk is the co-founder and CEO of Pay Pal, SpaceX, Tesla Motors and Chairman of SolarCity. Elon Musk, a South African immigrant to United States is an African success story. Born and grew up in South Africa during days of Apartheid. Musk, a young man of great vision  and emerging intellectual rejected the Apartheid system and migrated to North America to pursue his dreams and visions.

“Musk was born and raised in South Africa, the son of a South African engineer and a Canadian mother who worked as a nutritionist and model. Musk bought his first computer at age 10 and taught himself how to program; by the age of 12 he sold his first commercial software for about $500, a space game called Blastar. After matriculating at Pretoria Boys High School he left home in 1988 at the age of 17, without his parents’ support and in part because of the prospect of compulsory service in the South African military: “I don’t have an issue with serving in the military per se, but serving in the South African army suppressing black people just didn’t seem like a really good way to spend time.” He wanted to move to the US, saying: “It is where great things are possible,” stated by Wikipedia.

Furthermore “His mother was born in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, and many of his relatives reside in western Canada, so Musk immigrated there in June 1989. He left Canada in 1992 after getting a scholarship to study business and physics at the University of Pennsylvania. From the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, he received an undergraduate degree, and stayed on another year to finish a second bachelor’s degree in physics. His undergraduate degrees behind him, and drawing inspiration from innovators such as Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla,Musk then considered three areas he wanted to get into that were “important problems”, as he said later, “One was the Internet, one was clean energy, and one was space.” (Wikipedia)

Elon Musk’s mind can be liken to a composite of Edison, Newton and Einstein sensibilities and brilliance , which powered great and innovative scientific projects and breakthroughs. Musk had made great advances in the science of solar and electric car technology. Musk has made the possibilities and innovations of 21st century vision within our reach.

Elon Musk can be correctly called the father of modern space technology because of immense contribution he made to space industry. His vision of commercializing space technology by making space travelling available to the public will revolutionize space industry.

For his immense contribution to 21st century space technology and his rent-less energy to make a change the way we look at our world; Afripol Organization therefore chose ELON MUSK The 2011 AFRIPOL PERSON OF THE YEAR.

Africa Political and Economic Strategic Center (Afripol) is foremost a public policy center whose fundamental objective is to broaden the parameters of public policy debates in Africa. To advocate, promote and encourage free enterprise, democracy, sustainable green environment, human rights, conflict resolutions, transparency and probity in Africa. http://afripol.org