INTRODUCTION
Delivery drones have been assuming an important part in the delivery of food, clinical supplies, and other fundamental things during the Covid outbreak. This acceleration in their profile will probably help the future interest in drone development in Africa. Countries like Ghana, Malawi and Tanzania are interested in investing in the use of drones for purposes that will help to develop the country, and this creates a big opportunity for the drone industry.
OPPORTUNITIES IN DIFFERENT INDUSTRIES
AGRICULTURE
The cultivating local area has to a great extent acquired from the presentation of UAVs. Farmers face the test of creating sufficient food to meet demand yet crop yields can be challenging to anticipate. Farmers can utilize UAVs to screen their fields even more productively and decide a lot quicker where and when they need to splash insect spray, water the fields, or whatever other activity that might be essential. This will make it easier and faster to produce the crops as most of the countries in Africa rely heavily on farming for their economy. A Zambian company like i-Drone Service Limited uses drones for the long-term objective of creating high skilled jobs to avoid rural exodus.
Drone companies in this industry include Geo-Information Communication, Scout Aerial Africa
Dronesig, Gidi Drone and Agrinfo.
HEALTHCARE
As per the World Health Association (WHO), In 2017, an expected 295,000 ladies died overall from generally preventable causes connected with pregnancy and labor, with 66% of these passings happening in sub-Saharan Africa. This was due the inability to get blood to the patient rapidly enough as conventional methods for transport is lengthy because of unfortunate street framework and significant distances. In Africa, drones can now be utilized to convey blood and antibodies in far off regions, others are utilized to shower larvicide in the bogs to battle against Malaria.
Drone companies in this industry include Zipline, Swoop Aero Pty. Ltd. and Volansi.
SEARCH AND RESCUE
Drones are getting a great deal of negative press recently. You will find numerous positive Drone uses however, and its new application in search and rescue mission is something major. Generally, a rescue mission is a fight with time as the opponent like in wildfires that are usually cause by a lot of people trying to make charcoal in the mountains or forests which causes a lot of uncontrolled fires in the southern part of Africa countries. You should take care of business easily and quick. It is where quadcopters prove to be handy. The search and rescue drone can;
- Fly and maneuver into hard to access spaces.
- Fly securely low to the ground.
- Provide aerial photos and video for considerably less money than conventional Helicopters.
SECURITY AND RESCUE
Drones have gotten incredibly smart in the last few years. With powerful processors and AI capabilities, drones can now be programmed to perform autonomous flights. This makes it possible for a fleet of drones to do regular rounds along pre-determined flight paths, even without a pilot actively flying them. More recent drones have been designed with intelligent tracking systems. This allows the pilot to identify a subject – like a vehicle or a person – and command the drone to automatically follow them as they move. Smarter drones can even predict the trajectory of movement of a subject, allowing them to continue to track them even if they become visually obscured for a few moments. This can be used In boarder patrol making it in a more efficient way of getting the job done.
COLLECTING DATA FOR GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEM
Geographic Information System (GIS) is utilized to plan, picture, and investigate regions. A few African organizations are presently utilizing GIS drones to gather flying photographs that are clearer than satellite photographs. Contrasted with monitored airplane, which are utilized to catch space symbolism, UAVs are adaptable and fit for flying set up and getting to regions that can’t be reached by using huge airplanes. UAVs can be sent rapidly and consistently utilized, routes can be automated, limiting human error. They are additionally less harmful to the ecosystem and fundamentally diminish the gamble of harm to individuals or property.
Drone companies in this industry include Investiv, STK Aeroshutter, Ziongate Geospatial and Research Services, Astral Aerial and Beat Drone.
REFERENCE LIST
- Drones in Africa: How they could become lifesavers – BBC News
- Ackerman, E. and Strickland, E., 2018. Medical delivery drones take flight in east africa. IEEE Spectrum, 55(1), pp.34-35.
- McCall, B., 2019. Sub-Saharan Africa leads the way in medical drones. The Lancet, 393(10166), pp.17-18.
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