Kevin Nyango
Africa is taking a technological facelift ever so often, this time around at the Africa 2017 conference one area that has sparked much interest and debate is the concept of autonomous flying crafts or put simply Drones. Legislators, entrepreneurs and various stakeholders have all come together to have a taste of what could be the beginning of a new age of African technological enhancement which has already taken root in some parts of the continent.
The capacity for application of Drones goes beyond mere photography and media purposes or aerial surveillance, Drones can bring a modern 21st century touch to traditional classic Agricultural practices and infrastructure development. This stride forward has to be taken intelligibly and thus task forces of researchers have taken steps to inquire from the leaders of the pack in drone technology namely Amazon, Google and other associated companies, this research has unveiled a usability of drones that can greatly improve the health, agriculture and structural development of African nations in view of existing stumbling blocks.
Transportation of goods and services has for a long time be a problem on the African continent and drone technology offers a cost effective alternative; medical supplies urgently needed in hard to reach rural regions can be accessed via drone technology and shopping delivery can be made swifter. Professionals in drone utilization believe the new technology if integrated into Africa can account for a tenth of its transportation production.
In Agriculture drones can help farmers spray their fields with ease, assess how their crops are faring volumetrically and thus reduce labor costs. However a foreseen impediment is the lack of technological aptitude may pose a threat to its speedy integration. Concerns on security compromise have also made it a debatable issue, noise as a pollutant has been cited as well as a drawback, the reputation of drones as machines of war have also contributed to skepticism, .
Despite the draw backs the use of drones in improving health delivery has most likely improved their outlook in people’s mindsets, other countries such as Rwanda, Tanzania, Morocco etc. have embraced the agricultural benefits but this this is not the case in the majority of the continent. With conventions such as the Africa2017 we can look with optimism to an Africa with regulatory policies and legislation on drone use, making them more acceptable thus accelerating development on the continent.
