The African Development Bank has introduced itself to the commercial drone world, after signing a partnership agreement with a Japanese drone maker, in its effort to advance cooperation and projects in drone technology in Africa.
Aerosense Inc. is a leading Japanese drone technology company that offers holistic drone-based solutions, including the Aerobo photogrammetric drone; the Aerobo Marker, a ground control point for drone measurements; the Aerobo Cloud, an image analysis platform; and the Aerobo OnAir, which enables continuous flight with a wired power feed, to help companies and local governments improve productivity by utilising these products in inspection, surveying and other fields.
Company representatives signed a Letter of Intent last week, on the sidelines of the ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development in Yokohama, Japan.
The agreement was signed by Mr. Solomon Quaynor, the AfDB's Vice President for Private Sector, Infrastructure & Industrialisation, and Mr. Kohtaro Sabe, President & CEO, Aerosense Inc.
“The program is a bold response to Africa’s growing infrastructure challenges,” Quaynor said.
“By partnering with Aerosense, we will not only promote efficient road management but also consider promoting other unique solutions such as disaster management, river/flooding control, agricultural sensing, and medical equipment delivery.”
The agreement formalises a relationship of mutual co-operation, assistance, information and knowledge sharing between the two institutions, exploring co-financing and deal opportunities and appropriate coordination of actions between them and their respective teams, specifically concerning the promotion of sustainable infrastructure solutions in Africa.
“It is a great honor to serve the people in Africa with our Japanese technology for enhancing their quality of life,” Mr. Sabe stated.
“We are looking forward to collaborating with AfDB to build a better future together in a concrete manner.”
Aerosense Inc.’s drone solution was selected through a call for proposals under the African Development Bank’s Sustainable Road Maintenance Program for Africa (SRMPA) in June 2025.
Under the agreement, the Bank will facilitate coordination with the public sector, lead awareness-raising campaigns, support capacity building for local partners, and explore possible debt (and/or equity) financing support for projects related to the deployment of drone solutions.
Aerosense Inc. on its part, would conduct demand studies for drone solutions in target African markets, perform technical feasibility studies for the application of drone solutions, considering local geographical conditions, and explore possible deployment opportunities upon positive feasibility study results.