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Cargo Drones In Africa: Going The Last Mile?

Cargo Drones In Africa: Going The Last Mile?

By Sherelle Jacobs | From This Is Africa

Drones are a controversial topic when it comes to national security. However cargo drones, with their potential applications for last mile delivery in remote areas and humanitarian emergency situations, are tipped to be an exciting area of innovation for Africa.

But who is behind the push for cargo drones in Africa, why has it got the business world so excited, and how is progress on this embryonic technology panning out?

Cargo drones are small pilotless airplanes designed to transport 20-30kg packages across distances of 80km or perhaps further. The technology could have a revolutionary impact for delivering products to remote, poorly connected communities in much of Africa.

In Kenya, for instance, the World Bank estimates that less than 7 percent of the country’s roads are paved – despite being considered a leading market in the region. Northern Ethiopia, meanwhile, features remote villages and steep mountain passes connected by winding dirt roads. Cargo drone delivery could find many applications in these, and other, contexts.

Afrotech, a project launched by the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland, is at the cutting edge of cargo drone research for the region. Next year, it will start testing cargo drones across 80km distances in Africa, though the location of the tests have yet to be confirmed.

According to Jonathan Ledgard, director of Afrotech, it is no coincidence that cargo drones technology is being pushed ahead for Africa. “There is opportunity to move faster on this in Africa than in developed countries. Many African countries do not have many planes in the sky,” he points out.

He points to Rwanda as an example, which only has three commercial flights each day. “In industrial countries, the skylines are dense, not just with planes but also power lines.”

 

Read more at This Is Africa