Nigeria Brings Out the Drones in Coronavirus Fight

Nigerian startup Beat Drone, which uses drones to spray agricultural land, has been contracted by a Nigerian state government to help in the fight against the COVID-19. The firm uses drones to execute spraying on farms, engage in crop supervision, and map farmland to improve agricultural yields. Its platform allows a farmer to request a drone and schedule a date, and make payment, before drones are deployed for things like crop counting and mapping. During the coronavirus crisis, however, it has been contracted by the Ondo State government to work in a different way. The government has imposed a lockdown to prevent the spread of the virus, but also embarked on manual disinfection procedures to ensure rapid decontamination of neighbourhoods.  Beat Drone is working with the Ondo state government in Nigeria to supply drones that will aid in disinfecting neighbourhoods faster and more accurately. In addition to the collaboration on spraying, the Nigerian government will assist Beat Drone in setting up of a drone factory in Akure, Ondo State. The US$1.2 million factory will enable the startup to produce over 3,000 drones to aid in disinfecting all 36 states.

SOURCE: DISRUPT AFRICA

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