Drone delivery in Tanzania by 2018

Tanzania is set to become the second East African country, after Rwanda, to deploy delivery drones. The government has signed a deal with global drone delivery company, Zipline, to launch a programme which will see up to 2 000 deliveries of lifesaving medical supplies per day to rural, hard-to-reach places. Materials to be delivered include blood transfusion supplies, vaccines, HIV medications, anti-malarials and other critical medical supplies, explained Dr Mpoki Ulisubisya, permanent secretary of the Tanzania Ministry of Health. “The first of four distribution centres – located in Dodoma – will begin its first deliveries within the first quarter of 2018,” he said, highlighting that three additional distribution centres would follow – two in the north western corner of Tanzania near Mwanza and Lake Victoria and one in the southern highlands region near Mbeya. Ulisubisya said each of the four centres would be equipped with up to 30 drones that will have the capacity to carry 1.5 kilograms of cargo each.

CAPTION

A Zipline drone delivering life-saving medicines.