Drone services have proved handy. These services are used by e-commerce, security, transportation, agriculture, health, cinematography, and many other industries. The drone technology aids the distribution of goods to far and inaccessible places that were previously out of reach.
Healthcare is a sector greatly in demand for delivery services, especially in rural communities. There is a high rate of child and maternal mortality in areas which lack access to emergency medical supplies. In Sub-Saharan Africa alone, over 1.6 million people die yearly from untimely access to medical care. This is where Zipline comes in.
Zipline is an on-demand delivery company which delivers medical products across Africa using drones. Headquartered in California, Zipline seeks to improve emergency medical care in sub-Saharan Africa. They operate six distribution centers in both Ghana and Rwanda, delivering medical supplies to 2500 facilities.
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A new drone delivery company has emerged in Sub-Saharan Africa. Founded last year, Arone Delivery is a Nigerian logistics company which uses solar-powered drones to make quick deliveries of medical supplies. The startup is already working with some blood banks and hospitals in the country.
Most of the blood banks and equipped laboratories are located in Urban communities. This presents a huge challenge for primary health care centers located in rural areas.
Find out how we are solving this problem by building Avports.
Read more: https://t.co/dNeqN2f6DW#logistics pic.twitter.com/7H7uze3MPH— Arone (@AroneDelivery) February 4, 2019
Although still new, they are setting up autonomous vehicle ports in Nigeria which enable drones to perform interstate deliveries. Zipline, on the other hand, has been delivering medical supplies since 2014. There is an opportunity for Arone Delivery to gain traction since the demand for emergency delivery services is very high in the continent.