Global Air Drone Academy has been named winner of the first African Drone Business Challenge at a pitch event held today at the African Drone Forum (ADF) in Kigali, Rwanda.
The Global Air Drone Academy went home with £20,000 to accelerate the establishment of a permanent academy to train and certify drone pilots in Nigeria.
Founded in 2016 by Eno Umoh, Global Air Drone Academy is an FAA-licensed drone training, education and consultation organisation committed to building the next generation of professional drone pilots.
The drone startup headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland USA, has taught over 6,000 students in 400+ schools, and in 9 countries since 2016.
Jessica Brown, Development and Grants Manager for the Global Air Drone Academy says that the prize money will be used to construct a permanent drone training, education and research center in Lagos, Nigeria.
Meanwhile, Micromek from Malawi and Jembe Kilimo from Tanzania were named joint runner-ups winning £10,000.
The winners-Global Air Drone Academy, Micromek and Jembe Kilimo-were among the 10 drone startups selected for the finals of the African Drone Business Challenge.
The finalists were shortlisted from a competitive pool of almost 150 submissions from across 31 African countries.
The African Drone Business Challenge finalists represent 9 African countries – Benin, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
The judges believe that establishing a permanent academy to train and certify pilots in #Nigeria will help the ecosystem accelerate. @gadroneacademy takes home the grand prize of £20,000.00 to launch their academy. #ADF2020 #AfricanDroneBusinessChallenge pic.twitter.com/GIute1IHv7
— African Drone Forum – Rwanda 2020 (@ADF_rising) February 6, 2020
All submissions were evaluated by a panel of local and international industry experts based on the following criteria: 1.) Feasibility and implementation plan – 40%, 2.) Scalability and sustainability – 30%, 3.) Drone application and innovation – 15% and 4.) Societal and economic benefits – 15%.
The panel of judges includes Patrick Ngabonziza, Temie Giwa-Tubosun of LifebankNigeria, Giacomo Rambaldi, Billie Selby and Claudia Makadristo.
“The World Bank is proud to support these promising startups as they gain momentum and continue to push their business ideas forward. By participating in the African Drone Forum, entrepreneurs will get exposure to both local and global players within the drone industry,” said Yasser El-Gammal, World Bank Country Manager in Rwanda, the host country for the African Drone Forum.
An initiative of the African Drone Forum (ADF), the first African Drone Business Challenge (ADBC) is a business plan competition for African entrepreneurs to uncover new commercial use cases for drone applications that demonstrate a high potential for local impact.
