Addis Mercato, an integrated e-commerce and logistics company, in partnership with TechEagle, an Indian tech company, is launching the first commercial regular fully automated and intelligent urban and suburban drone delivery service in Ethiopia.
Addis Mercato entered a strategic partnership with TechEagle to jointly launch the innovative on-demand drone logistics network for delivering healthcare items and essentials in Ethiopia.
After clearing all regulatory procedures, Addis Mercato will embark on the new milestone and make its inaugural test flights in less than three months.
“This new last-mile drone logistics solution will create new opportunities for implementing innovative solutions that can continuously drive growth with greater efficiency, sustainability and less cost said Abiy Selassie, Addis Mercato’s CEO
“We would also like to work together with the Ministry of Health to create a drone delivery network for the healthcare system, which will enable quick and efficient delivery of essential medicines or blood to certified hospitals and clinics in urban or remote areas,” added Abiy.
Mr. Vikram Singh Meena, Founder of TechEagle, said, “We are glad to partner with Addis Mercato to enable the first drone delivery flight in Addis Ababa safely and secure airspace integration.”
“Aside from commercial use of this technology, our collaboration marks a new beginning in building air logistics for making home deliveries, and especially, healthcare more accessible and efficient last-mile delivery in smart cities,” added the founder.
The new service will launch in and around Ayat Zone 5 with customized routes to Legetafo covering approximately 14 kilometers between our warehouse in Ayat and the customers’ residence. Using the most advanced Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV)/Drone built by TechEagle in Addis
Mercato’s newly-launched drone series, featuring automation, safety, and reliability, can carry a payload of up to 4 kgs and overcome complex road conditions and traffic congestion common to urban areas. The service also reduces one way delivery time from 40 minutes to only eight minutes (4x faster) and can save delivery costs by half, with reduced energy consumption and carbon footprint compared with road transportation.
The companies also plan to scale their operations to other countries further, once the network is deployed in Ethiopia.
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