Zipline’s drone delivery technology, will soon be integrated into other sectors including e-commerce and agriculture to foster economic growth, the General Manager for Zipline, Mawuli Atiemo, has said.
Consequently, he said, they would partner with the government to ensure the use of the technology for the delivery of logistics to impact on various sectors across the country.
“As part of our efforts to diversify and impact on other sectors of the economy, we would ensure that drones were mounted at various business facilities to ensure a swift delivery of goods and services across the country,” he stated.
He was speaking at the four years anniversary celebration of Zipline in Ghana held on Thursday at one of their delivery centres at Omenako, Suhum in the Eastern Region dubbed “Zipline: Four years of Impactful Partnership with the Government of Ghana.”
He said, Zipline Ghana planned to by next year, expand its case from medical supplies to e-commerce and home delivery of essential items including groceries and meals which would revolutionise delivery services in Ghana.
In March this year, he said, they had launched their delivery services, the Zipline’s Platform 2(P2) which would essentially be piloted at other parts of the world this year, and fully begin operations in Ghana next year.
“The new autonomous platform for home deliveries has been designed to be fast, quiet and precise. They can deliver up to seven times faster than traditional automobile delivery, completing 10-mile deliveries in about 10 minutes, with a service radius of miles carrying a payload of 6-8 pounds,” he stated.
“After four years of successful delivery of medical services in Ghana with our six distribution centres serving 2,700 health facilities, we need to integrate our technology into the public sector to help their operations,” he stressed.
“Going forward, we will continue to leverage on our cutting edge technology to enhance our logistics capabilities and form new partnerships to reach more communities and ensure no one is left behind,” he added.
Zipline, he said, looked forward to working with the United States government and other development partners to evolve new ways of working with the private sector, integrating its technology into existing ecosystem including pay-for-performance partnership to facilitate the transition to sustainable models for development.
The Deputy Minister of Health, Mahama Asei Seini, implored directors of industry to tap into the Zipline technology to ensure efficiency especially with regards to delivery of service.
He also commended Zipline for their efforts over the years which had revoluntionised health delivery in Ghana and subsequently being extended to other areas.
“We are poised to creating an enabling environment for Zipline to function as they had been a credible partner over the years,” he stated.
He said, agriculture and logistics management would benefit largely from Zipline technology as it could help transport items like fertilisers and enhance agricultural revenue.
“We need to work together to unleash the potential of this technology to transform other sectors,” he reiterated.
The special guest for the ceremony, United States Ambassador to Ghana, Ambassador Virginia Palmer, said she was dazzled by the works of young people at Zipline and how they were transforming lives and the economy of Ghana.
BY MICHAEL D.ABAYATEYE
