Why is Europe still waiting for large scale drone deliveries in the Amazon way?

Imagine not having a personal address. How could you run a taxi to your home? How could you receive clothes, gadgets and food that you ordered online?

This is the reality for millions of people in Africa. Unlike most Western countries, or even the entire western world, millions of households in many countries of the continent lack facilities for home delivery.

Especially in Kenya, mailboxes are rare. Instead, citizens tend to use mailboxes stacked at post offices to receive their mail, or pay an annual fee for a post office box for which there may be long waiting lists

. that no one has a mailing address, so how to deliver something to a person in Africa who does not have an address? Where do you deliver it? "Explains Sanjeev Gadhia, a Nairobi entrepreneur who led a public lecture on the subject at Farnborough International Airshow, in Hampshire, in southern England.

"So, what are we going to do with mobile technology? and drone technology, would we make his mobile phone his address, and no matter where he is in Kenya or wherever he is in Africa, we would make sure that we would be able to # 39; s reach. "

Gadhia is the founder and CEO of Nairobi-based Astral Aviation, the largest private cargo carrier in East Africa that seeks to be the first to launch large-scale drone operations on the continent.

already started: in September, the company will launch a three-month pilot project to provide public deliveries of Amazonian-style drones in collaboration with the Kenya National Post.

"There are many remote areas in Africa, and the ultimate object says Gadhia.

During his stay in Farnborough, the entrepreneur was looking for manufacturers of drones capable of making drones. One day, they will provide vehicles to its fleet

Once in effect, planes would be controlled by ground operators trained by Kenya's own Astral Aviation drone piloting academy, the first of its kind in the world. the country.

not limited to delivering mail to Africans living in remote areas. He plans to use the vehicles for crop spraying, monitor the wildlife reserves that are the target of poaching, and provide blood, organs and vaccines to people with viral diseases.

"If you have an Ebola crisis, are vaccines distributed to the population in the shortest and most cost-effective way possible? "You do not want a human connection or human interface with the affected population, so drones could carry vaccines in very difficult situations."

So, why? Europe still waiting to benefit from mbadive deliveries, continental, super fast and medical packages?

Unfortunately, strict rules governing civilian airspace over Europe mean that the continent is lagging behind the United States and Africa. The regulations governing unmanned aerial vehicles in the block vary by country and the European rules are still under development. Thus, unless they meet specific standards, drones can not fly in separate airspace.

"Regulators are catching up with a lot of things happening in the drone industry and autonomous vehicles, and for regulators, it's a balance between risk and reward" says Anthony Venetz , General Manager of Across Safety Air Safety Consulting.

"They want to take advantage of this kind of industry because it's good for the economy, that you can do things you could not do before or that were too expensive before, but you have to balance that with public safety "

As to why Africa is ahead, it's simply because it's less developed and regulators are eager to do it. experimenting with new technologies, says Gadhia. "The African airspace is not as busy as many western airspace, so you have corridors that can be set aside for drone technology. So we believe we can start the journey with drones in Africa and continue the journey to Europe and the United States when the time is right. "

Drones undoubtedly have their advantages: They can fly where planes can not in small confined spaces – they can hover near the ground, and they do not need a certified human pilot to fly – but if they end up in the wrong hands?

"A drone could actually fly at night and could carry ammunition that could be used in a terrorist-related activity," says Gadhia. "It's a reality … so we have to work very closely with the [Kenyan] Ministry of Defense so that they know what we're doing."