Côte d’Ivoire has approved an eight-year partnership with drone delivery company Zipline to grow its medical delivery network from one distribution centre in Daloa to ten across the country, The Condia reported.
The deal
- The expansion is supported in part by a $150 million pay-for-performance award from the US Department of State, which funds the infrastructure upfront.
- The Ivorian government has committed to paying for ongoing operations.
- Once complete, the network is expected to serve more than 2,200 health facilities and over 12 million people.
Each hub combines warehousing, cold storage, stock management, autonomous drone delivery and digital tracking, so clinics can order blood, vaccines and medicines when they need them instead of waiting for scheduled road deliveries. The health ministry gets real-time data on orders and stock, helping to prevent shortages and expired drugs.
Since launching in Daloa in 2023, Zipline says it has delivered more than 3.55 million medical products to over 220 facilities in Côte d’Ivoire, including about 2 million vaccine doses and 20,500 units of blood products.
The Nigeria connection
Zipline operates in Rwanda, Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya and Côte d’Ivoire. In Nigeria it plans to grow from three to 15 distribution hubs by 2028, aiming to reach 20,000 health facilities and nearly 100 million people, using the same US pay-for-performance model in which state governments fund ongoing operations.
Bigger ambitions
According to Bloomberg, Zipline is in talks to raise about $1 billion at a valuation of roughly $20 billion, nearly triple the $7.6 billion it was valued at earlier this year. In August it announced a partnership and investment from Uber for food delivery.
Why it matters
Bad roads, long distances and the rainy season make it hard to get blood and vaccines to rural clinics quickly. Zipline’s model is one of the clearest examples of robotics and AI-driven logistics being used for public health in Africa at national scale.
Source: The Condia, citing Bloomberg.
