$50,000 (Sh5000,000) is up for grabs for African entrepreneurs to showcase their latest and best business plans riding on drone technology.
ADF is the first Pan-African business plan competition designed exclusively for African entrepreneurs that have identified new and innovative business models enabled through drone technology and data.
Entrepreneurs from all African countries or diaspora are eligible to enter and have been asked to submit their business plans. The deadline for business plan submissions is December 9.
The organisers of event are riding on the hope that the event will provide the best platform for African entrepreneurs to envision new commercial use cases that may emerge resulting from this new wave of technologies such as drone delivery services, digital fabrication, and artificial intelligence for navigation and image analysis.
“The ADF will open and test the minds of engineers, regulators, entrepreneurs, and investors. The flying competitions will create activity hubs and opportunities to leapfrog technologies, and develop skill sets for 21st century jobs in the region and beyond,” said Riccardo Puliti, the global director of the World Bank’s Energy and Extractive Industries Global Practice.
At present, there are emerging applications in Africa related to healthcare delivery, land digitization, agriculture or livestock monitoring, disease surveillance, urbanization tracking, and flood impact assessment.
Already Ghana and Rwanda are utilising drone technology to deliver blood and medicines to far flung areas.
The event will include flying competitions on Lake Kivu to demonstrate the latest breakthroughs in drone technology.
The World Bank and the World Economic Forum, along with UKAID/DfID, Danida, the Republic of Korea, the World Food Programme and Unicef, alongside African grass roots drone organisations and NGOs are some of the partners behind the concept.
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