Africa’s first drone academy will improve the continent’s future

Taking advantage of the advance of technology, Africa is increasingly using drones for a wide range of applications—from delivering medical commodities, collecting aerial imagery for predictive analysis in combating cholera and malaria to supporting real-time emergency for children and their community.

Malawi opened the first African Drone and Data Academy in the beginning of this year, with support from the United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF. The academy aims to improve drone technology skills across Africa, beginning with Malawi and neighboring countries. The academy enrolls participants not only from Malawi, but also from Uganda, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania, Botswana, Sierra Leone, Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

“Drones, data and artificial intelligence are leapfrog technologies that allow more informed and agile development response and potentially accelerate economic growth in the region,” according to UNICEF Malawi Representative Rudolf Schwenk. He has also pointed out that Malawi, just like its neighboring countries in the region, lacks the qualified personnel needed to use the opportunities offered by the technology, stressing that education and local capacity building are needed to enable these digital advances to bring lasting solutions to the country and beyond. “To respond to the skills deficit, we have established this academy”, he explained.

The academy plans to train 150 students to build and pilot drones by 2021. It is expected that by 2022, the academy will run a tuition-free two-year master’s degree program in drone technology.

“This decade that has just started is going to be digital and to help young people learn about drones will be an incredible step forward, not only for Malawi but for many other African countries,” Rudolf Schwenk is adamant.

Among other things, the academy is providing a comprehensive training in how to build or pilot a drone, how to integrate it into an existing supply chain to transport live-saving materials to hard-to-reach areas and how to use the drone acquired data to fight cholera, malaria or prepare better against floods.

With Africa’s start-up industry growing rapidly, the addition of thousands of new technology and drone-related jobs to the global economy presents a unique growth opportunity for African youth. The Drone & Data Academy will prepare young Africans with the skills that will be needed to join the new technology workforce, and contribute to their communities’ economic and social development.