We know there is little to celebrate yet: as a continent, Africa continues to be the only drone market that is primarily a consumer of drone products, without coming up with innovations of its own yet.
Perhaps that is why it is important to shine a light on the efforts of start-ups like Algo Drone, Drone Africa Service, Autonosky, and TerraHaptix, which are leading the way, when it coming to drone manufacturing technology on the continent.
Then there are entities like WeRobotics, which are working really hard to ensure that – if Africa as a continent consumes drone products for now, at least it can do so on its own terms and to the full advantage of intended beneficiaries.
And the best way to do this is to inspire the rise of commercial drone entrepreneurs right out of the continent itself. And this is the reason why we have the Flying Labs network today.
The article below – taken from Time Aerospace – is a celebration of some of these achievements, and we think it is a good reminder of where we have been, where we are now and where we could be heading as a drone market.
We hope you enjoy.
In the wake of the drone revolution, major drone companies, including 100 per cent African ones, are not only reinforcing but rethinking the use of drones to better support local populations.
Drone technology is no doubt set to be a more powerful tool to help the emerging continent address socio-economic and environmental challenges. According to CNBC Africa, Africa's drone industry could reach $2billion by 2025.
Since one of Africa’s pioneering drone entrepreneurs William Elong, launched his drone manufacturing start-up, Drone Africa (Algo Drone) in Cameroon in 2015, the commercial drone industry benefited from sustained progress in unmanned aerial systems (UAS).
Drones have gradually revolutionised sectors such as agriculture, including food security challenges due to climate change, healthcare through blood and medical equipment deliveries, especially in remote and landlocked areas devoid of road infrastructure.
Companies like Drone Africa Service embody the efficient use of drones to deliver essential supplies to these communities.
The Nigerien start-up is a creation of Aziz Kountche, the prodigious aeronautics fanatic who was already building model aeroplanes in his family home, right in the vicinity of the presidential palace where his grandfather, Seyni Kountche, ran national affairs from 1974 until his death in 1987.
The younger Kountche’s friends gave him so much stick for his obsession – until their smirks froze on their faces when Kountche was asked to build a model aeroplane that could take pictures from the air in 2011.
He has not looked back since.
The young man took up the challenge, and that was how the T-900 – his first ever drone – came to life.
“I drew the plans myself,” he told local media in 2017.
“I bought the wood at the Katako Market (in the capital, Niamey), curved it into shape, then installed a small NDVI camera on board. I imported the other electronic equipment from France.
“Surprisingly, this drone immediately worked well, it never broke down. My friends couldn’t believe it. But they stopped making fun of me when they saw my drone making the 8PM news.
Five years later, Kountche founded Drone Africa Service, a drone services company that offers mapping, inspection and monitoring services to its clients in West Africa, using drones that the company itself builds. The start-up has grown from strength to strength since then, but the highlight of Kountche’s life at DAS will always be the time he was contracted to map out refugee and IDP in August 2016, by the United nation High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
In South Africa there is Autonosky, a drone manufacturing and services provider from Cape Town, which could be the first start-up in the world to introduce a real MPD – a multi-purpose drone that can carry out any task if saddle it with the right payload – from remote sensing, crop spraying, delivery; and even fighting fires.
And it is already ready for order; ahead of even another more illustrious MPD – the now mythical VoloDrone that has promised to deliver so much since 2019, but is nowhere near the horizon yet.
Called the Autono1, Autonosky’s drone can carry a maximum payload of up to 30kg, can fly for an hour on a single charge; and also comes with a 3-axis camera and sensor stabiliser.
“We designed Autono1 from the ground up to maintain sufficient flight times at increased payload capacities,” the company said.
When they are not building drones, the smart people at Autonosky also offer drone services that include training and other drone-based operations.
Recently, Autonosky announced a partnership with Workswell, a European developer and manufacturer of thermal imaging solutions, which gives licence to the former to become the local supplier and integrator for Workswell’s new innovative WIRIS Enterprise payload.
A thermal camera system, the WIRIS is a fully radiometric camera that has been specially designed for use with unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or drones; and, as the company claims; built for the most demanding applications, including industrial inspections, archaeology, and precision agriculture.
Then of course, there is American drone logistics company Zipline, which – after cutting its teeth with medical drone deliveries in Rwanda in 2016 – now operates the world’s largest drone delivery service, which has saved thousands of children’s lives through the timely delivery of vaccines and medicines.
Zipline’s autonomous drone logistics system isn’t just saving lives and preventing disease, but is also the most cost-effective public health intervention aimed at increasing immunisation.
Its fully-electric, battery-powered drones fly with zero-carbon emissions in countries like Ghana, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Nigeria and Rwanda.
Statistics show that in Rwanda and Ghana, partnerships with Zipline have enabled a 51 percent reduction in deaths from post-partum haemorrhages through timely blood deliveries. This is a leading cause of maternal mortality in sub-Saharan Africa. In Rwanda, drones deliver about 75 per cent of the nation's blood supply outside Kigali, reaching remote areas within fifteen minutes.
A recent study in Ghana has underlined the effectiveness of medical drones – in both cost and time taken – to move medical supplies into communities that were previously nearly impossible to reach using conventional means of transport.
Ghana, Ivory Coast and Congo use TerraHaptix’s Archer drones, which are locally made in Nigeria. TerraHaptix, co-founded in Abuja by 21-year-old Nigerians Nathan Nwachukwu and Maxwell Maduka, is Africa’s leading drone manufacturer. Nwachukwu recently announced that the company had received 300 orders for Archer X and that they are reaching international markets like the USA.
With growing awareness on the determining role of drones throughout Africa, governments are multiplying partnerships and investing in the sector. Burkina Faso Flying Labs, the Burkina Faso franchise for WeRobotics’ Flying Labs network of drones has joined hands with the Burkinabe government in the latter’s efforts to promote irrigation in agriculture.
The west African country relies heavily on agriculture, with an estimate to employ about 80 per cent of the workforce. But with rainy periods becoming shorter due to climate change, the government is turning to irrigation to supplement farming efforts and ensure food security.
Burkina Faso Flying Labs is therefore lending a hand by launching a pilot project to develop irrigation systems.
Elsewhere, the Drone Company Awards Grants for Humanitarian Operations is powering the momentum gained by the sector over the past decade.
The Resilient Futures Grant Programme is also supporting four organisations namely the HALO Trust, Sheffield and Rotherham Wildlife Trust, Help.NGO and Cryospheric Society of Nepal.
In an extensive analysis, GSD Global, a mission-driven consulting firm dedicated to introducing and scaling transformative innovations in emerging markets said that "Africa is fast becoming a hotspot for drone innovation".
It underlined that with an expanding market and vast potential, drone technology can unlock solutions to face the continent's most pressing challenges.
The future of drone technology in Africa is very promising with innovations in AI and machine-learning integration for automated crop monitoring and predictive analytics for healthcare logistics.
According to World Bank estimates, the drone sector could generate more than 200,000 jobs across Africa by 2030. It will contribute significantly to economic development and equip youth with valuable tech skills throughout the continent.