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Countries across the continent are experimenting with this 21st century technology as a way to leapfrog decades of neglect of 20th century infrastructure.
Over the last two years, San Francisco-based startup Zipline launched a national UAV delivery program in East Africa; South Africa passed commercial drone legislation to train and license pilots; and Malawi even opened a Drone Test Corridor to African and its global partners.
In Rwanda, the country's government became one of the first adopters of performance-based regulations for all drones earlier this year. The country's progressive UAV programs drew special attention from the White House and two U.S. Secretaries of Transportation.
[...] After several test rounds, Zipline went live with the program in October, becoming the world's first national drone delivery program at scale.
"We've since completed over 6000 deliveries and logged 500,000 flight kilometers," Zipline co-founder Keenan Wyrobek told TechCrunch. "We're planning to go live in Tanzania soon and talking to some other African countries."
[...] In a non-delivery commercial use case, South Africa's Rocketmine has built out a UAV survey business in 5 countries. The company looks to book $2 million in revenue in 2018 for its "aerial data solutions" services in mining, agriculture, forestry, and civil engineering.
[...] The continent's test programs — and Rwanda's performance-based drone regulations in particular — could advance beyond visual line of sight UAV technology at a quicker pace. This could set the stage for faster development of automated drone fleets for remote internet access, commercial and medical delivery, and even give Africa a lead in testing flying autonomous taxis.
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Monday September 24 2018, @06:06PM (4 children)
Why does anyone think it's going to work better with China trying to drive modernization in Africa, than it did with various European powers and the United States? The last round of foreign powers roundly exploited Africa, in partnership with ruthless locals, while proclaiming they were there "to help." The Chinese don't even pretend to be there "to help." Also, they have even less cultural aversion to corruption than the last round of helpers; as such, they're not gonna magically make African countries more democratic, more honest, or more prosperous.
Africans have great reserves of natural resources and native talent, but they're frustrated by tribalism, post-colonialism, and foreign meddling. Their best hope is to DIY their way to a better future, but who knows if they'll be able to get there with China insinuating itself into their midst.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Monday September 24 2018, @06:54PM
Their best hope is to look at what works and copy it, with minor adaptations for local culture.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Monday September 24 2018, @06:56PM (2 children)
The US never really drove "modernization" in Africa, nor did much of Europe. What the US and most of Europe wanted in Africa is more properly called "exploitation".
China may very well succeed, where we failed, because they have an entirely different perspective. China has already cornered a lot of market share in Africa, because their cheap stuff is affordable. China isn't pushing Calvin Klein, or Gucci, or whatever. China pushes the same cheap crap they export to the US, but priced so that Africans can afford them. That is - the $0.30 T-shirt that sell on Wal-mart shelves for ~$5.00 is priced at $0.38 in African markets. And, China is kicking the west's ass in much of Africa.
https://www.africa-business.com/features/china_africa_business.html [africa-business.com]
One of the key phrases in that particular article: "China has been actively partnering with African governemnts". Unlike westerners, who tend to topple governments, then replace them with puppets to control the population.
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Monday September 24 2018, @07:13PM
I'm thinking about loans from the World Bank and IMF, which are institutions controlled by Europe and the US. Yes, it exploited Africa, but it was done under the guise of helping them develop.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Monday September 24 2018, @08:15PM
When China starts "partnering" with the replacements it appointed will you still continue to make that distinction. I don't agree that China has an entirely different perspective here. However, I do agree that Africa will ultimately be better for the stuff that the outside world does here.