ADF launches first-ever African Drone Business Challenge

1 November 2019 News & Events

The African Drone Forum (ADF) has announced the launch of the first African Drone Business Challenge, a business plan competition for African entrepreneurs to uncover new commercial use cases for drone applications that demonstrate a high potential for local impact.

The goal of the Business Challenge is to encourage African entrepreneurs to envision new opportunities that may emerge as a result of both the increasing rural connectivity in Africa, combined with new semi and fully autonomous systems for delivery, digital fabrication, and artificial intelligence for navigation and image analysis.

“Tech is there, but use cases beyond medical product delivery are the missing piece,” said Jean-Christophe Zufferey, co-founder of senseFly. “We should spend more time analysing existing supply chains to see where and how drones make sense."

The deadline for business plan submissions is Monday, 9 December 2019. Finalists will receive notification in early January 2020 if they are selected to participate in the final pitch event at the ADF.

Benefits

Ten finalists will be invited to attend ADF and will receive pitch training, exhibition space, mentoring, and the opportunity to pitch their business ideas live to a crowd of industry leaders, investors and government officials. The ADF will run concurrently with the Africa Tech Summit (https://www.africatechsummit.com/) offering networking potential with over 1000 participating digital leaders, tech corporates, technology regulators, banks, mobile network operators, and startups from across Africa and the globe. Finalists will compete for cash prizes up to 40 000 GBP.

Requirements

To submit a business plan, you must be a citizen of an African country or an African in diaspora, and have business concepts that would operate within Africa. Participants can range from an individual entrepreneur or an early-stage startup to an innovation team within a small business, corporation, or government office that focuses on integrating new drone services or applications into their business models. Entrants do not need to be drone companies but should focus on concepts and customers for new business opportunities enabled by drone technologies. Significant consideration will be given to proposals that demonstrate both economic and social value to their communities.

If you have any questions, please contact Andi Fisanich ([email protected]) and Jonty Slater ([email protected])




Share this article:
Share via emailShare via LinkedInPrint this page



Further reading:

Highest increase in global cyberattacks in two years
Information Security News & Events
Check Point Global Research released new data on Q2 2024 cyber-attack trends, noting a 30% global increase in Q2 2024, with Africa experiencing the highest average weekly per organisation.

Read more...
The power of PKI and private sector innovation
Access Control & Identity Management News & Events Government and Parastatal (Industry)
At the recent ID4Africa 2025 Summit in Addis Ababa, the spotlight was firmly on building secure, inclusive, and scalable digital identity ecosystems for the African continent.

Read more...
Bosch Security renamed Keenfinity
News & Events
Globally renowned brands for video systems, access control and intrusion alarm systems, as well as communication systems, unite under the roof of the new company Keenfinity Group.

Read more...
2025 video surveillance market set for improved fortunes
News & Events Surveillance
Novaira Insights has unveiled its latest report, World Market for Video Surveillance Hardware and Software – 2025 Edition, forecasting a healthy growth rate of 8,1% until 2029, excluding China.

Read more...
Wialon announces integration with fleet maintenance and optimisation platform
News & Events Transport (Industry) Logistics (Industry)
Fleet management software platform integrates with a fleet maintenance and optimisation platform to support mutual customers for better workflows and deeper insights into fleet operations.

Read more...
DeepSneak deception
Information Security News & Events
Kaspersky Global Research & Analysis researchers have discovered a new malicious campaign which is distributing a Trojan through a fake DeepSeek-R1 Large Language Model (LLM) app for PCs.

Read more...
Almost 50% of companies choose to pay the ransom
News & Events Information Security
This year’s Sophos State of Ransomware 2025 report found that nearly 50% of companies paid the ransom to get their data back, the second-highest rate of ransom payment for ransom demands in six years.

Read more...
Value and industry insight
Securex South Africa Training & Education News & Events
Securex South Africa 2025, co-located with A-OSH EXPO, Facilities Management Expo, and Firexpo, drew thousands of security professionals from across the continent and beyond, offering a platform for networking, product discovery, and knowledge sharing.

Read more...
Gallagher Security achieves ISO 27001 recertification
News & Events Training & Education
Gallagher Security has successfully achieved certification to the updated ISO/IEC 27001:2022 standard for Information Security Management Systems (ISMS). This accomplishment builds on previous certifications and reflects a continued commitment to the highest standards of information security.

Read more...
Survey highlights cost of cyberdamage to industrial companies
Kaspersky Information Security News & Events
The majority of industrial organisations estimate their financial losses caused by cyberattacks to be over $1 million, while almost one in four report losses exceeding $5 million, and for some, it surpasses $10 million.

Read more...










While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained herein, the publisher and its agents cannot be held responsible for any errors contained, or any loss incurred as a result. Articles published do not necessarily reflect the views of the publishers. The editor reserves the right to alter or cut copy. Articles submitted are deemed to have been cleared for publication. Advertisements and company contact details are published as provided by the advertiser. Technews Publishing (Pty) Ltd cannot be held responsible for the accuracy or veracity of supplied material.




© Technews Publishing (Pty) Ltd. | All Rights Reserved.