German drone developer Wingcopter and Continental Drones Ltd, a subsidiary of Ghana and Dubai-based Atlantic Trust Holding, have signed a deal that will see thousands of Wingcopter drones deployed across the African continent for delivery purposes.

To this end, a network is to be set up to improve the reliability and efficiency of existing systems. They also want to build new supply chains. Continental Drones is now an Authorized Wingcopter Partner (WAPP) for all 49 sub-Saharan countries. The goal of the two partners is to deploy 12.000 Wingcopter 198, the world's most advanced delivery drone, across Africa over the next five years. This represents the largest commercial deployment to date in the global delivery drone industry.

In many African regions, insufficient infrastructure prevents nationwide health care and economic development. The establishment of extensive drone delivery networks in African airspace will take logistics in these countries to a new level and help create a whole new transport infrastructure - much faster, cheaper, more sustainable and more efficient than what is possible by building conventional ground-based infrastructure with all its harmful and climate-damaging emissions would be possible.

Bridging infrastructure gaps by deploying large wingcopter fleets, even in the most remote locations, will allow governments and the private sector to replace inefficient infrastructure with carbon-neutral, reliable and fast logistics solutions. Wingcopter's technology will help improve the living conditions of millions of people in Africa, for example through the needs-based delivery of medicines, vaccines or laboratory samples, but also of important everyday necessities. In addition, drone-based delivery networks have the potential to boost the economic development of the countries in which they are built, by better connecting communities and creating thousands of new jobs for their operations. As the Wingcopter 198 is fully electric, it also contributes to a more sustainable African logistics sector and helps economies on their way to net-zero.