From Rwanda to Kenya, Drones Are Transforming Africa

In recent years, low‑altitude economy has become a new growth point for the integration of Africa‘s aviation industry and the digital economy. According to IATA forecasts, Africa’s air cargo market is expected to grow at a compound annual rate of 5% between 2020 and 2025, with cargo volume approaching 4 million tonnes and market size exceeding US$6 billion by 2025. Faced with long‑standing challenges such as weak infrastructure, difficult geography and insufficient public service coverage, the rise of unmanned flight technology offers an effective way for Africa to overcome these development hurdles.

Rwanda is a pioneer in Africa‘s low‑altitude economy. As early as 2016, Rwanda became the first country in the world to officially launch a drone delivery system at the national level. In partnership with a foreign company, Rwanda set up its first drone operations centre in Muhanga, west of the capital Kigali, using fixed‑wing drones to deliver blood, vaccines and medicines to health facilities in mountainous and remote areas. What used to take hours or even days was shortened to around 30 minutes. Since then, Rwanda has expanded its network, built several distribution hubs and now covers most of the country with drone delivery routes.

Countries such as Ghana, Kenya and Malawi have also introduced drone technology, extending its use from medical supply delivery to agricultural spraying, mineral exploration, humanitarian aid and other fields. At the same time, they are actively building local technical capacity by training drone pilots, maintenance personnel and data analysts. Malawi has worked with UNICEF to build a humanitarian drone corridor for transporting medicines to affected areas. In July 2023, the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority approved the country’s first controlled airspace dedicated to BVLOS drone operations at Konza Technology City, providing a collaborative platform for testing, training and R&D. In May of the same year, Ghana’s Ministry of Communications, Digital Technology and Innovation launched a programme to train 10,000 young people in drone operations and logistics technology, supporting medical logistics and agricultural spraying.

Despite the promising outlook, Africa’s drone industry is still at an early stage, facing common challenges such as fragmented markets, outdated airspace regulations, a shortage of skilled professionals and insufficient infrastructure. Analysts point out that as more countries accelerate their low‑altitude economy strategies, drone technology is expected to play an even greater role across Africa, bringing far‑reaching impact to public health, agriculture, mining and beyond.