Africa to host world’s first cargo drone port

Rwanda has been selected to

host the world’s first cargo

drone port. A pilot project is

set to kick off next year for

completion by 2020.

The proposal by United

Kingdom architecture

firm, Foster + Partners, the

Swiss Federal Institute of

Technology and its linked

Afrotech company, hopes

initially to see drones with

a three-metre wingspan

capable of carrying up to 10

kilograms, followed by those

with a 6-metre wingspan

with the capacity to carry

cargo of up to 100 kilograms.

A lack of infrastructure for

land-based transport makes

cargo drones an ideal option

for Africa, with the project

proposal noting that they

could transcend geographical

barriers such as mountains,

lakes and unnavigable rivers

without the need for largescale

physical infrastructure.

CAPTION

An artist’s rendition of what the first cargo drone port would

look like. Photo: Foster + Partners