“LAND of a thousand
hills” is an accurate nickname for tiny landlocked Rwanda. Under its president,
Paul Kagame, it is determined to become a technology hub for Africa.
Zipline,a Silicon Valley startup, will start testing
delivery drones at a site south-west of the capital, Kigali, next month. If considered
safe by the government, a month or two later “Zips” drones will be dropping off
blood for transfusions in small boxes with parachutes at 21 hospitals and
health centres within a 75km radius. The aim is to cover the rest of the
country within a year, and to start delivering vaccines and other medicines as
well as blood.
If all goes well, drones could cut a 3.5-hour trip by car to
and from one of the country’s five blood banks to less than 45 minutes. Even
more time could be saved during the rainy season, when many of Rwanda’s roads
become impassable, says Zipline’s co-founder, Will Hetzler.
Another firm, Mobisol, wants to use drones to deliver spare
parts for its solar-power systems in Rwanda and Tanzania. The drones it is
developing could land on roofs, where they could be recharged using customers’
excess solar energy.
Perhaps the most ambitious idea comes from Redline, a
40-person company founded by Jonathan Ledgard, a former journalist for The Economist.
Mr Ledgard envisions drones - manufactured for less than $3,000 - that will
carry up to 10kg loads between small cities and towns that are poorly connected
by road. A ‘droneport’, designed by Norman Foster, a British architect, could
be built for $300,000—less, Mr Ledgard claims, than a new petrol station.
Rwandan ministers are supportive, and Redline hopes to start test flights by
the end of the year.
Unicef is working with Malawi’s government on the
feasibility of using drones to transport lab samples. Drones may turn out to be
the best option for islands in Lake Malawi, for example. The country is also
interested in using drones in agriculture, forestry and conservation, as well
as disaster surveillance.
No one expects drones to be a complete substitute for good
roads. But as drones become cheaper, they could help countries with patchy
infrastructure shift light, valuable goods more quickly.
