This February has been an eventful month so far. It began fittingly with a celebration of our national heroes, those incomparable Rwandans who gave their all so that we can witness the wonders around us today. The other remarkable events that followed were therefore proof that their heroism was not in vain, that it was the foundation for greater achievements. In a sense the events made this statement: You laid the base, you showed us the way and now it is our turn to use that to spring into the future. A week ago, Rwanda hosted a conference of the African Drone Forum (ADF). Don’t confuse it with the other ADF, a Ugandan rebel outfit that would sooner return us to the Stone Age. The ADF that met in Kigali was about aerial technology, specifically unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), intended to propel us into the future. It is the sort of technology that was hardly imaginable in Africa only a few years ago. Drones have become familiar objects, even if still a source of wonder. Which is why the ADF conference had several components: a symposium for the experts and regulators to share knowledge, experiences and chart a way for utilising this technology to benefit us all, and an exhibition and competition for entrepreneurs to showcase the latest drone technology and its application. Some of the things they talked about are already being done in this country. That included delivery of medical supplies, agricultural support services, pest control, survey and mapping and many others. These are things an ordinary bloke like me can understand, relate to and actually find attractive. It is the stuff that matters to farmers and other rural folk who are the majority of the population in much of Africa because it addresses issues that directly affect them, and more significantly, aims to improve their lives. It also matters that these solutions came from Africa’s brightest minds, most of whom have probably never held a hoe, seen their harvest and investment wiped away by pests, or whose contact with their surroundings is limited to the laboratory or workshop. Nonetheless, they are showing a direct connection between science and technology and everyday life. The experts talked about other things, mostly directed at government officials and policymakers, but all of them about application of drone technology to solve everyday challenges. They included such topics as the drone economy and disaster risk management, airspace management for unmanned services and integration of UAVs into supply chains – and many more. In this sense the gathering in Kigali was notable for bringing drone technology out of the factory and technical manuals into public view. They were doing a very important service: removing the magic and complexity, and showing drones to be a very useful and usable product. Something else was on display: innovation and its application. Indeed President Paul Kagame challenged African engineers to go beyond merely using drone technology and start designing and manufacturing them in Africa. This way, he said, the technology would be tailored to our specific needs, create jobs and promote prosperity. A day earlier, President Kagame had inaugurated the Rwanda Cancer Centre at the Rwanda Military Hospital, Kanombe. Among some of the facilities at the Centre is a state of the art radiotherapy system for the treatment of cancer. Not too long ago cancer was considered a disease that affected the affluent and even then in faraway places. But it is increasingly affecting more people from all walks of life in this country and so has become a major health concern. Similarly, we had hardly any oncologists (experts in cancer management). Now there are some, although admittedly still few. Specialised treatment for cancer and other diseases has in the past been done abroad at very high cost. It is therefore important to develop national capacity to manage these diseases, save more lives and money. Looking back to these events and others that have taken place in this country such as the World Academy of Science, Transform Africa Summits and various aviation conferences, one is bound to ask a few questions in wonder. Who would have thought, twenty-five years ago, that Rwanda would be hosting a continental meeting on drones and championing their manufacture in Africa? Who would have imagined such a modern facility for the diagnosis and treatment of cancer? Only a few could: the supremely confident or unusually optimistic, or those with a vision beyond the imagination of most, and the steel to make things happen. Luckily we have them – maybe not many – and we should make use of the opportunity of their presence and celebrate them when we still have them. For the moment, we shall note that the new decade has started well, on a meeting point between history and technology and the future, taking up from where the last one ended, and ensuring that we continue on our march forward. The views expressed in this article are of the author.
