Denis Opudo
Zipline began its operations in Rwanda in October 2016. The startup works by creating the national drones to serve as a delivery mechanism. The drones help in drugs and blood shipment to interior health centers and camps in Rwanda. Recently, Zipline launched its fastest drone with an average speed of 128 km/hr. The company believes that the new commercial drone is superior to the prior ones. The areas of advancements include maintenance, speeds, and capacity. The system will ease commercial trade activities and attract influential players. Some of the largest players include the Amazon and Project Wing. The US government is likely to end negotiation about private drone testing. The agreement will foster drones movement beyond human sight. The Zipline company Rwanda’s report indicated that its drone covered 4,000 flights and 300,000Km.
Besides Rwanda, the company started the same operation in Tanzania. According to the Zipline’s CEO, Keller Rinaudo, the company has improved its logistics system through African experience. The strategies comprised of improvement of distribution centers, use of computers in flight checks. The modernization helped to reduce the waiting time from ten to one minute only. He added that initiative will allow the company to make 500 flights from one center. This symbolized higher flight management. He noted that the company drone serves the larger area as compared to the normal quadcopter. On average, the drone can carry a load weighing 1.75Kgs in a single round trip covering about 160Kms.
