Swoop Aero to launch drone logistics operations in Namibia
Friday 4 December, Melbourne, Australia / Windhoek, Namibia: Melbourne based drone logistics company Swoop Aero is continuing to rapidly scale its operations in Africa and will be unlocking the sky with scalable, reliable and sustainable drone logistics in Namibia.
Swoop Aero’s first operations in Namibia, set to commence in 2022, will be improving access to healthcare in remote areas in Namibia with their world-leading logistics platform.
“Our vision is for a world where seamless supply chains bring emotional and economic prosperity to all they serve.” said Swoop Aero CEO and co-founder Eric Peck. “Healthcare logistics is our bread and butter and we’ve carefully modelled our end-to-end service offering from real-world experience across seven different nations. We’re excited to start operations in Namibia and deliver unique life-saving measures and strengthen the safe hands of healthcare providers and hospitals alongside our partners.”
In line with Swoop Aero’s operating model, Swoop Aero will hire and train local operations staff – creating skilled jobs and new opportunities in the region as Swoop Aero expands to provide a variety of logistics services to both urban and rural communities and commercial customers in multiple industries across the country, in healthcare and beyond.
“Swoop Aero believes that innovation is best driven by those it supports. We create vibrant local innovation ecosystems, scouting, developing and growing talent in-country, for long-term ethical operations,” said Mr Peck, “We’re dedicated to creating local, highly-skilled, tech-based jobs in a growing industry wherever we operate, and will be bringing this ethos to Namibia.”
In Malawi, Swoop Aero has hired twelve full-time local staff and trained 70 health workers, who have helped conduct over 5,000 flights. Six local staff in the Democratic Republic of Congo operate Swoop Aero aircraft across the largest two-way drone network in the world, covering 22,000km2 to service 100 villages.
“Our core goal as a company is to provide a drone logistics service to 100 million people in 2025, and grow that impact to make it accessible by one billion people by 2030” said Mr Peck. “Operations in Namibia will be the eighth country using the Swoop Aero logistics platform. We’re dedicated to creating solutions to global challenges, and are proud to continue delivering to new communities in Namibia”.
Swoop Aero’s launch into Namibia is supported by a strategic partnership with local Namibian health services company Macquarie Medical Care, the name behind Namibia’s first telehealth service, Dr MacQ. Macquarie Medical Care provides the local leadership and medical expertise required to enable both improved community health outcomes and long term capacity building.
“Macquarie’s goal is to bring health within reach, through telemedicine and digital health solutions across Namibia” said Dr Armid Azadeh, founder and CEO of Macquarie Medical Care. “Reaching isolated communities with Swoop Aero’s drones is an ideal synergy.”
###
About Macquarie Medical Care
Macquarie Medical Care is a Namibian health services company founded in 2016, whose vision it is to bring health within reach, to multitudes at a time, through innovative, sustainable and equitable healthcare solutions. Macquarie Medical Care launched Dr MacQ as the first telemedicine service provider in Namibia, and since pilots began in 2012, they have brought health within reach of thousands of remote workers and international tourists in the mining and tourism sectors. By providing on-demand telemedicine services to whoever needs it, wherever they may be, in whatever position, Dr MacQ provides trusted telemedicine to clients, by improving access to quality and affordable healthcare. Since the Covid-19 pandemic, their offering has expanded to urban corporates, by providing integrated healthcare solutions and corporate health risk management consulting, and to consumers, through the rollout of Dr MacQ Online Doctors available at retail pharmacies.
