Ghana Aviation Ministry has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the International Freight Drone (IFD) organisation to deploy freight drone technology in the coming years to facilitate the timely movement of goods within the country.
The IFD is expected to deploy freight drones that are capable of carrying 10-tons of shipping container over 700 Kms, and build droneports at various parts of the country.
Freight drone technology, when fully developed would help get finished goods and fresh agricultural products from the hinterlands to major towns and cities within minutes.
Mr. Joseph Kofi. Adda, Minister for Aviation of the Republic of Ghana and Thomas Murphy, Founder and CEO of IFD, signed the understanding that lays out a 3-year plan to introduce freight drones in the country.
“In Particular, the use of drones will facilitate the rapid movement of cargo to unreachable areas of the country. With Ghana now becoming the centre of AfCFTA means there will be the need to move cargo through the Sub-region and other parts of the continent.”
said the Minister in a statement.
During the first phase of implementation, IFD will utilize manned aircraft in combination with existing drone technology to move products from rural areas to cities. While the freight size will be on a smaller scale, this interim stage will be financially viable for the participating logistics companies and IFD. Over time, new drones will be introduced that will be fully autonomous with the ability to lift more than a ton thus increasing the range and capacity to move products into the world market.
While Ghana is the first African country to begin this process, several other countries are reportedly considering similar agreements with IFD.
