{"id":4117,"date":"2026-09-30T13:48:03","date_gmt":"2026-09-30T13:48:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/?p=4117"},"modified":"2026-09-30T13:48:03","modified_gmt":"2026-09-30T13:48:03","slug":"zipline-to-start-drone-deliveries-from-karongi-in-october","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/30\/zipline-to-start-drone-deliveries-from-karongi-in-october\/politics\/national\/","title":{"rendered":"Zipline to start drone deliveries from Karongi in October"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"614\" src=\"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/33061-zipline-rwanda-announce-partnership-for-instant-logistics-bd475.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4120\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/33061-zipline-rwanda-announce-partnership-for-instant-logistics-bd475.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/33061-zipline-rwanda-announce-partnership-for-instant-logistics-bd475-300x180.jpg 300w, https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/33061-zipline-rwanda-announce-partnership-for-instant-logistics-bd475-767x460.jpg 767w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Zipline Rwanda will begin operating its new drone delivery hub in Karongi in early October, adding a third base to its network as the company expands services to communities around Lake Kivu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Karongi hub, located in Bwishyura Sector, was inspected on September 29 by Minister of Local Government Dominique Habimana, Western Province Governor Jean Bosco Ntibitura and Karongi District officials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Patrick Ndayisenga, head of the Karongi hub, said construction started in June and has now been completed, with the facility expected to begin operations in the first days of October.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He said the new hub would significantly reduce the time needed to deliver supplies to Bugarama in Rusizi District.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cEverything is ready, and we will start providing services in early October 2026,\u201d Ndayisenga said. \u201cThe hub is expected to reduce the time drones take to reach Bugarama from about one hour to around 20 minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Karongi facility will become Zipline&#8217;s third operating hub in Rwanda, joining its existing bases in Muhanga and Kayonza.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Karongi District Mayor Gerald Muzungu said the new facility has a particular feature because it will be the only Zipline hub from which drones will take off over Lake Kivu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Minister Habimana said the new hub would make it easier to deliver medicines, blood and pig semen to districts around the lake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cZipline has helped solve the challenge of delivering medicines across the country and is a good example internationally,\u201d Habimana said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He said the Kivu Belt needed a dedicated hub because of the distances involved in delivering medical supplies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The minister said the new facility would shorten delivery times and help health facilities receive supplies more efficiently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Zipline uses autonomous drones to deliver medical and other essential supplies to health facilities, allowing orders to be transported directly to facilities that need them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Karongi hub is expected to serve the wider Kivu Belt, complementing the existing Zipline operations in Muhanga and Kayonza.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Zipline Rwanda will begin operating its new drone delivery hub in Karongi in early October, adding a third base to its network as the company [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4120,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43,53,51,41,34,40],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4117","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-current_affairs","category-featured-stories","category-health","category-hot_topics","category-national","category-top_stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4117","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4117"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4117\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4121,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4117\/revisions\/4121"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4120"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4117"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4117"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4117"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}