Zipline in talks to launch drone logistics in five additional states in Nigeria 

Zipline, a U.S.-based drone logistics company backed by Goldman Sachs and Sequoia Capital, plans to expand to five additional Nigerian states by the end of 2025. This expansion follows a memorandum of understanding signed with the Nigerian government in September 2024, allowing Zipline to use its drone infrastructure to deliver essential medical supplies to remote and underserved areas.

Zipline, which expanded to Nigeria in 2022, operates drone deployment stations, known as “nests,” in Bayelsa, Kaduna, and Cross River. The company is in talks with five more states to expand its network to seven nests, further strengthening its role in Nigeria’s healthcare supply chain, according to Akin Oyediran, Zipline Nigeria’s country manager and partnership lead. 

“The federal government is partnering with us in working with the different states because each different state has its healthcare system,” Oyediran said. “We’re working together to start deploying nests and have some drone technologies to deliver these medical supplies.”

Nigeria’s healthcare supply chain faces major challenges, including poor drug storage, bad roads, and widespread counterfeit drugs. Bureaucratic procurement delays in public hospitals often lead to shortages, especially in rural areas where many rely on expensive private care or wait long for essential medicines.

Solving these issues requires investment in technology and infrastructure. In the South-South region, where riverine communities rely on motorcycles, bicycles, boats, or even foot travel for medical supplies, deliveries can take hours or days, making timely healthcare even harder to access.

Before Zipline, institutions like LifeBank—a healthtech and logistics company that delivers essential medical products such as blood—along with the Africa Resource Center for Excellence in Supply Chain Management (ARC_ESM) and the Nigeria Supply Chain Integration Project (NSCIP), had already been working to address these challenges. One major challenge for these organizations is a lack of financing to reach many communities. Zipline doesn’t have that challenge.

In May 2023, Zipline raised $330 million in a Series F round, bringing its total funding to approximately $900 million and valuing the company at $4.2 billion. The funding was used to improve its drone technology.

Zipline, which operates in eight countries across four continents, began its Africa operations in Rwanda in 2016 before expanding to Ghana in 2019. In 2022, it entered Nigeria, Kenya, and Côte d’Ivoire.

While it runs a vast operation in Rwanda and Ghana, it will begin to make significant inroads in Nigerian states this year. The memorandum of understanding it signed in November 2024 with the National Blood Services Commission of Nigeria allows it to put a national blood solution in place by the end of 2025. 

Oyediran claims that Zipline’s drones can deliver medical supplies in as little as 30 minutes to areas where traditional healthcare personnel might take up to 14 hours to reach. A McKinsey & Company analysis estimated that a single-package drone delivery has a direct operating cost of approximately $13.50, with labor representing up to 95% of the total cost. Zipline declined to share how much it charges for drone delivery in Nigeria. The company’s pricing and contract structures are tailored to the partner’s specific needs and budget. While contract structures vary by country and agreement, Zipline does not charge per flight. Its monthly fee covers the cost of centralized warehousing and inventory management, drone flights, and access to real-time data and analytics

Each Zipline nest can operate up to 300 drone flights per day, delivering vaccines, anti-malaria drugs, nutritional medicine, and just-in-time (JIT) medical supplies. Each Zipline distribution hub can serve hundreds of delivery points within a 38,000 km² area. The company claims its drones make hundreds of deliveries daily, with round trips extending beyond 200 km.

Nigeria is about 36 times the size of Rwanda, where Zipline operates with just two nests covering the entire country. Achieving similar coverage in Nigeria would require an average of one nest per state, totaling 36 nests for the country’s 36 states.

Although Zipline’s drones fly autonomously, an employee tracks each drone’s movement at the backend to ensure successful deliveries. A single drone nest, even if located in Cross River, can serve patients within an 80-kilometer radius, extending services to neighboring states.

“We’re going to start delivering blood and other medical equipment to riverine areas where people lack access to quality healthcare,” said Oyediran. Beyond healthcare, Zipline is considering an expansion into agricultural supply deliveries to support farmers and a potential entry into e-commerce logistics in Nigeria.

Oyediran says Zipline is betting on Nigeria because it represents an opportunity to improve healthcare on a large scale. The company’s mission is to make drone delivery possible for everyone on earth, according to Oyediran. 

*Editor’s note: This article has been updated with additional information about the company’s delivery coverage and business model. It has also been corrected to include that the company is in talks with the government for the launch plans.