The U.S. Department of State is awarding $150 million in Zipline, the world’s largest autonomous logistics system, to support the expansion of its life-saving artificial intelligence and robotics infrastructure across Africa.
Under this pay-for-performance model – the first of its kind from the State Department – the funds will be released only when African governments sign expansion contracts and commit to ongoing operating costs, ensuring long term sustainability of the service in public health systems. Each participating African government already uses Zipline regionally, and this award enables them to scale the centralized, on-demand logistics infrastructure nationwide.
At scale, Zipline’s expanded services will reach more than 130 million Africans with on-demand delivery that reduces waste, equalizes health access, increases treatment rates, and improves health outcomes. It triples the number of health facilities Zipline serves to 15,000 and supports the creation of more than 800 high-skilled, high-paying jobs in Africa in logistics, health systems, and advanced engineering in robotics and artificial intelligence. It will also drive up to $1 billion in annual economic gains across Africa by resolving the logistics and credit bottlenecks that choke commerce in so many regions.
This landmark deal ushers in a new, results-driven model of foreign aid that prioritises innovation, scales what works, and emphasizes long term sustainability and mutual economic growth.
Zipline has been operating across Africa since 2016, partnering with national governments to deliver blood and medicines to over 5,000 hospitals and health facilities. Its work has been credited with helping cut maternal deaths by up to 56%, reducing zero-dose prevalence by 42% in a single year, and reducing missed opportunities to treat severe malaria by 66%. Since its first delivery in 2016 in Rwanda, Zipline’s autonomous logistics system has flown more than 120 million commercial autonomous miles and completed over 1.7 million autonomous deliveries with zero safety incidents, proving it can rapidly deploy life-saving technology to expand access and improve health outcomes across Africa.
Rwanda is expected to be the first country to expand under this new award, building a third distribution center and doubling daily deliveries, expanding to urban communities with Zipline’s new short-range precision delivery drone, and building a first-of-its-kind flagship testing facility that hosts Zipline’s global hardware and software product testing. Additional Zipline expansions are expected in additional countries, including Cote d’Ivoire, Kenya, and Nigeria.
“We started Zipline to build a logistics system that serves all people equally. Today the U.S. government is doubling down on our work, and using our AI, robotics and autonomous logistics system to improve health outcomes,” said Keller Rinaudo Cliffton, CEO and Co-Founder of Zipline. “For years presidents and prime ministers have told me they want the best of what America has to offer: innovation, jobs and 21st century technology to leapfrog into the future. That has always been America’s unique value proposition and today, U.S. State Department is making that happen.”
“This partnership is an example of the innovative, results-driven partnership at the core of the America First foreign assistance agenda. With modest U.S. capital investment support, these five countries will become responsible for maintaining and continuing to invest in a transformative American-built health commodities supply chain network,” said Under Secretary of State for Foreign Assistance, Humanitarian Affairs and Religious Freedom Jeremy Lewin. “By strategically deploying assistance resources to catalyze private capital, incentivize local buy-in, and champion American businesses, President Trump’s foreign assistance agenda is bringing developing economies into the 21st century and helping America win the race for the technologies of tomorrow at the same time.”
“African governments are choosing to invest their own resources in Zipline because it works, and it’s incredible value for money. It solves intractable global health challenges like maternal mortality, malnutrition, and under 5 mortality,” said Caitlin Burton, CEO of Zipline Africa. “This award marks a pivotal moment in foreign aid — the U.S. government is backing Africa’s vision, building the infrastructure Africa wants, and accelerating the adoption of American innovation that’s proven to work and recognized as one of the most cost-effective public health interventions ever studied. It will forever change the trajectory of human health and development in Africa.”
“Rwanda and Zipline have been working together for years to harness technology for the good of our people. We have witnessed the extraordinary impact of drone delivery — saving time, saving money, and saving lives,” said Paula Ingabire, Minister of ICT and Innovation of Rwanda. “With this partnership, we will now expand to urban delivery, bringing these benefits to even more communities. We thank the U.S. Government for supporting Zipline’s expansion and for joining us in building the foundation for Africa’s future in healthcare and innovation.”
“With more than 200 million people, Nigeria faces unique challenges and opportunities in delivering healthcare equitably and efficiently. Existing Zipline operations in three Nigerian states have shown how drone delivery can transform access to healthcare — eliminating stockouts, creating new service points even where there is no health facility, driving growth in facility visits and treatment rates, and improving treatment success and health outcomes,” said Muhammad Ali Pate, Minister of Health and Social Welfare of Nigeria. “We applaud the U.S. Government’s support for innovations like Zipline that can potentially advance our vision for a healthier, more equitable future for our people and are in discussions to find a sustainable path working together.”
“In Côte d’Ivoire, our priority is to guarantee every citizen rapid, reliable, and equitable access to essential health products,” said Pierre Dimba, Minister of Health, Public Hygiene, and Universal Health Coverage of Côte d’Ivoire. “Since the launch of Zipline’s operations in our country, we have witnessed the concrete impact of medical drone delivery: shorter supply times, improved availability of vital products, strengthened capacities of our health facilities, and better services delivered to our populations, including those in rural and remote areas. With the expansion of this partnership, we now aim to amplify these results and extend these benefits to an even larger number of communities across the entire territory. This approach is fully aligned with our vision of a modern, resilient health system capable of innovating to meet tomorrow’s needs. We also welcome the support of the United States Government in advancing this effort, which contributes to strengthening our health sovereignty and building an Ivorian model of excellence in health innovation.”
About Zipline
Zipline is the world’s largest and most experienced autonomous delivery service. Today Zipline operates on four continents, makes a delivery somewhere in the world every 30 seconds, and serves more than 5,000 hospitals and health facilities. Zipline’s customers include federal and state health systems, health care institutions, restaurants and retailers. With more than 120 million commercial autonomous miles safely flown to date, Zipline is transforming access to healthcare, consumer products, and food. Our customers rely on Zipline to save lives, reduce emissions, increase economic opportunity, and provide new logistics services at scale.
For years Zipline has worked with visionary governments and philanthropic organizations willing to take bold action to improve health outcomes for tens of millions of people. Partners include the Elton John AIDS Foundation, the Gates Foundation, Gavi, Pfizer, and The UPS Foundation, which have helped Zipline and its partner governments develop a wealth of empirical evidence that advances our understanding of how improved supply chain performance increases timely treatment and ultimately saves lives
