Welcome to Business Daily on the BBC World Service with me, Katie Prescott, and producer Sarah Trinor.

As the coronavirus pandemic continues, global healthcare networks are under intense strain,

and there's a good deal of anxiety about how vital goods and medicines can be distributed to reach those in need,

especially in the developing world.

In February, before COVID-19 spread to the African continent, we visited Kigali, the fast-changing dynamic capital of Rwanda, and heard about some of the technology being developed and used

to get blood and medicine to patients quickly and

cost-effectively. Much of it is experimental. We'll hear from some enthusiasts.

Especially in Africa, if the infrastructure is still not there and people don't have access

to some goods, the drone can give them access easily. And those who warn against the technology's

current viability. There is humanitarian value in drones for delivery, but there's no market opportunity for drones

in delivery. Business Daily on the BBC World Service.

Since 2016, the Silicon Valley tech company's Zpline has delivered blood throughout Rwanda by drone.

It received a huge amount of global publicity and is now in the so-called Unicorn Club,

which means it's valued at more than a billion dollars.

At a distribution centre near the captain of Kigali, I watched a slingshot-like process as the drone carrying blood supplies was launched into the skies.

It's almost violent as the drone flies up into the hills nearby.

But while Zipline's activities have received global attention,

it's still very much an exception.

Its flights are classified as government flights,

and these high-level exemptions means it's got its own rules.

It's a pet project of the Rwandan President Paul Kagame, who's determined to put technology front and centre of his ambitious economic plans for Rwanda.

But Zipline's example highlights the need for more nimble thinking

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