African e-commerce giant Jumia has announced today a new partnership with instant delivery service Zipline, which owns a fleet of lightweight delivery drones, to work on pioneering drone deliveries across the continent.
According to the company, Jumia began testing and has already launched a drone delivery pilot program in Ghana in July. The company is set on plans to expand its drone deliveries to Cote d’Ivoire and Nigeria, and ultimately to other countries in the future.
“Using the latest instant logistics technology will allow Jumia to offer our consumers on-demand delivery of the products they need,” said Apoorva Kumar, EVP, Jumia, Group COO.
“This will support Jumia’s commitment to sustainability and innovation and provide much-needed access to rural and remote areas where conventional delivery services have challenges.”
Jumia says the collaboration initially will focus on integration and product testing on how best to integrate Zipline’s drone delivery system seamlessly with Jumia’s logistics operations to enhance customer experience.
Testing will also identify which Jumia customers and which specific products from Jumia are in the highest demand for automated delivery.
“Overall, we will deploy our very trusted, safe, and efficient instant logistics system to improve access and make shopping more convenient, sustainable, and accessible than ever before for Jumia customers”, said Daniel Marfo, SVP – Zipline Africa.
Zipline’s instant logistics system is made up of a world-class autonomy platform, a fleet of light, electric aircraft (drones), and flight management systems that reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 98% compared to delivery by car.
This system is designed to enable all consumers, from the most urban to the most remote, to access the products they need in 45-minutes or less while reducing the carbon emissions of last-mile delivery up to 98% compared to traditional cars.