It’s been three years (can you believe it?) since the launch of the African Drone Forum in Kigali, Rwanda. The ADF (and its parallel drone flying event, the Lake Kivu Challenge) was a collaboration between the World Bank, the Government of Rwanda, africanDRONE, and many other leaders in the drone tech space.
At the final session of the African Drone Forum on February 8, 2020 hundreds of senior delegates were gathered to hear closing remarks from some of the most influential experts on drone technology. Tariroyashe Marufu, a 25-year-old Master’s student in Geomatics at the University of Cape Town (UCT) in South Africa, was among them.
“I believe that African problems require organic solutions…and as I launch my career I plan to fuse my land surveying and remote sensing skills with my passion for drones in tailoring these solutions.” Tariroyashe, who grew up in Zimbabwe, is one of the 21 participants of the World Bank African Drone Youth Scholars Program. “It’s important that we tailor our own solutions to what we need … We’re bringing our African dreams to life.”
Getting African youth, especially women, interested in drone technology is vital in what so far has been a male-dominated industry mostly influenced by large multinationals. The World Bank views drones as a significant contributor to future ecosystems and economies in Africa — and developing local capacity is a key component of that ability.
Africa is by far the youngest continent, with more than 60% of its population under the age of 25, and it is also quickly urbanizing. With a projected funding deficit of between $68-$108 billion dollars on infrastructure each year, drones can play a big role in leapfrogging existing road infrastructure, catalyzing new industries, and solving health and supply chain problems on the continent. Examples of uses abound already, from malaria spraying, to flood map analysis, to legitimizing land rights. By creating local drone capacity — software, hardware, and human — communities will be able to create solutions tailored to their specific needs and keep education, capital, and technical capacity local, which in turn helps to build robust local economies.
The World Bank African Drone Youth Scholars Program is an initiative to help accelerate a multi-regional network of stakeholders across Africa, and using local partners to build that network was a high priority for the ADF organizing team. The World Bank tapped the network of ADF partner africanDRONE to help find the top youth candidates from across the continent to participate in the competitive selection process.
“We were overwhelmed with the number of talented applications we received,” said Johnny Miller, Co-Founder of africanDRONE. “We wanted to make this program as broadly representative of the continent as possible, and also reflect the varying use cases that youth are interested in when using drones for good.” Out of more than 420 applications, 21 scholars were chosen, representing 11 African countries: Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Uganda and Zimbabwe. Identifying women leaders in STEM industries, of which drones are included, was a priority for the selection committee, and the final group included more than half identifying as women.
The Youth Scholars came from backgrounds and have interests that are as diverse as the continent itself, focusing on health, delivery, robotics, and mapping. “Seeing all the potential use cases of drones that were exhibited and knowing that they are already being used in other countries on the continent further showed me the untapped potential back home”, said Shamillah Nassozi, the Youth Scholar from Uganda. “As entrepreneurs it’s crucial that we have profitable projects, but we should also aspire to make a difference in our communities.” Truly exciting also were the Youth Scholars from Rwanda, who got to see the continent come together in Kigali, and even host their President at the opening ceremony of the ADF.
“The ADF 2020 was an opportunity to acquire new expertise and to share experience” said Kelia Mugenzi, Youth Scholar from Rwanda and Program Manager for Leapr Labs. “The ADF introduced to Rwandan young Drone enthusiasts many new technologies…and proved how Africa can benefit from the drone technology which is on the rise.”The World Bank African Drone Youth Scholars Program is an initiative to help accelerate a multi-regional network of stakeholders across Africa, and using local partners to build that network was a high priority for the ADF organizing team. The World Bank tapped the network of ADF partner africanDRONE to help find the top youth candidates from across the continent to participate in the competitive selection process.
“We were overwhelmed with the number of talented applications we received,” said Johnny Miller, Co-Founder of africanDRONE. “We wanted to make this program as broadly representative of the continent as possible, and also reflect the varying use cases that youth are interested in when using drones for good.” Out of more than 420 applications, 21 scholars were chosen, representing 11 African countries: Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Uganda and Zimbabwe. Identifying women leaders in STEM industries, of which drones are included, was a priority for the selection committee, and the final group included more than half identifying as women.
The Youth Scholars came from backgrounds and have interests that are as diverse as the continent itself, focusing on health, delivery, robotics, and mapping. “Seeing all the potential use cases of drones that were exhibited and knowing that they are already being used in other countries on the continent further showed me the untapped potential back home”, said Shamillah Nassozi, the Youth Scholar from Uganda. “As entrepreneurs it’s crucial that we have profitable projects, but we should also aspire to make a difference in our communities.” Truly exciting also were the Youth Scholars from Rwanda, who got to see the continent come together in Kigali, and even host their President at the opening ceremony of the ADF.
“The ADF 2020 was an opportunity to acquire new expertise and to share experience” said Kelia Mugenzi, Youth Scholar from Rwanda and Program Manager for Leapr Labs. “The ADF introduced to Rwandan young Drone enthusiasts many new technologies…and proved how Africa can benefit from the drone technology which is on the rise.”
Oftentimes African use cases are unique to the continent. Tariroyashe, the Youth Scholar who spoke at the closing ceremony of the ADF, is working on a project at UCT delivering sanitary pads to women in rural villages. The project uses a stripped-down S550 hexacopter frame with a Pixhawk flight controller, the same controller used in many open-source drone solutions around the world. By building capacity of African drone experts, local use cases can be explored at a manageable cost. This is a huge consideration for the development of local industry, as rapid prototyping and testing of ideas are central to the tech ethos of the 21st century. European and Chinese competitors may provide a solution which uses similar parts, but costs many thousands of dollars, making it impossible to test with in the African context. Moreover, proprietary parts and closed software systems mean that the inevitable repair of damaged drones will need to be done in their countries of origin. With a local business model, most of the actual parts of drones can be 3D-printed, and only certain small components — the motors, the flight controller, the camera — need to be imported.
Bringing the Youth Scholars to Kigali was done at no expense to the participants, and on the first day all 21 Youth Scholars received an all-access pass to the Symposium and Expo. They were provided access to senior World Bank staff at the ADF, including World Bank Country Director Yasser El-Gammal. El-Gammal spent time with the group providing perspective from his position in the World Bank, and allowing each Scholar to share their background and interest in joining. Youth Scholars were also the recipients of a master class in presenting and business principles, led by African Drone Business Challenge Lead Coach Emmanuel Feruzi, from K15/Seedstars in Tanzania.
“Africa is filled with youth that are inspired to make a difference”, said Feruzi. “They are willing to develop solutions and to go to places where the traditional research universities and government institutions have not yet explored or considered viable.” Youth Scholars were also able to meet other African Drone Business Challenge Finalists, including the winners Global Air Drone Academy, who provided valuable advice and perspective from their journey.
Access to the ADF Expo was especially important for the Youth Scholars, as this is where business owners, government, civil society and enthusiasts flocked together to exchange ideas and promote their services and products. “Connecting directly to industry leading experts in the drone ecosystem was my favorite part,” said Elly Savatia, Youth Scholar from Kenya. “I also enjoyed the pitch training sessions — I got to learn more presenting skills, was given meaningful feedback, and heard more about what the rest of the scholars were pushing in the drone ecosystem in Africa.” Creating vibrant ecosystems will rely on knowing who the players are throughout Africa — something that can be difficult to do and why it is so important to have an in-person Expo take place. Moreover, multiple Youth Scholars spoke French as a first language, and special considerations with simultaneous translation was taken to ensure that language preference would not matter in access to the Symposium presentations.
Building camaraderie amongst the Youth Scholars was important to the organizers and a rooftop dinner was organized with the African Drone Business Challenge participants, with the distinctive colorful spiral top of the Kigali Convention Centre spread out below. Youth Scholars got a taste of authentic Rwandan cuisine while sharing ideas and best practices with young entrepreneurs chosen from across Africa. “The value of networking is one that can not be understated. I learnt a lot about the value of human relationships”, added Tariroyashe Marufu. The Business Challenge teams were also mainly young Africans from 10 different countries, and the crossover networking opportunities between these young leaders abounds.
“The challenges entrepreneurs in Africa face, such as access to funding for even the most viable business ideas, make networking an especially important part of entrepreneurship in the African context” said Dexter Tangocci, Co-Founder of Integrated Aerial Systems, a Business Challenge Finalist. “It was a pleasure meeting the Youth Scholars in Kigali and having robust, optimistic discussions with them. Meetings like this allow aspiring entrepreneurs to make connections that could be the springboard that brings their business idea to life.”
Special access was also granted to the Youth Scholars for a tour of Zipline, the US blood delivery company with ongoing operations in Rwanda. Zipline is one of the most highly regarded drone companies operating today, with over 20% of Rwanda’s total blood being delivered by bespoke Zipline drones. Additionally, the company has a focus of training local staff to be able maintain and operate its ecosystem.
The ADF was the perfect choice to jumpstart the Youth Scholars program, as it is the largest and most prestigious gathering of drone professionals in Africa. The development of local capacity, and the catalyzing of networks of like-minded young professionals is an important step forward in the development of robust local networks. As the industry evolves and grows, especially post-Covid, we look forward to the fruits of this network and what the future brings to our talented young entrepreneurs.