For the first time ever, Africa will be sharing its drone story with the world, with a dedicated Africa Pavillion at XPONENTIAL Europe, an international forum for drone stakeholders taking place in Germany from March 24Dusseldorf, Germany.
Curated by ADF, the Pavilion will feature a select group of African and Africa-focussed drone companies, ecosystem leaders, and partners operating across high-impact sectors including infrastructure, public services, climate resilience, logistics, energy, and humanitarian applications.
The Pavilion is designed to move beyond awareness toward outcomes, enabling concrete business development, partnership formation, and market entry discussions.
In a statement, Eno Umuoh, the chairman of the Africa Drone forum said the presence of a pavillion with a special focus on Africa at the event should be praised for its efforts to present the African Drone industry as a unified force at a globally acknowledged gathering of industry stakeholders.
“Creating the first Africa Pavilion at a major international uncrewed systems exhibition is a strategic statement,” Umoh said.
“African companies are deploying at scale, exporting solutions, and solving complex operational challenges. This Pavilion establishes Africa as a coordinated and credible partner in the global autonomy ecosystem.”
Which is just as well, because there is a myriad of African drone technology success stories that need to be told, and be told by the African people living the experience.
The stories of Azziz Kountche, Luke Bell, Autonosky, Terra Haptix and several other creative inventors who are building drones from scratch across Africa.
The stories of the Africa Drone and Data Academy; of Malawi as the biggest playground for drone start-ups; of Rwanda taking the first courageous steps for a delivery drone trial; of the Flying Labs network and countless untold efforts of stakeholders working hard to get the African drone space into the stratosphere.
The pavillion is supported by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) project “Triangular cooperation for digital innovations Made in Africa” implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH as Public Innovation Partner, reflecting a shared commitment to sustainable innovation, private-sector development, and the responsible adoption of drone for good and AI technologies across Africa.
The project fosters cross-border knowledge sharing and, in particular, accelerates the development of data-driven innovations using drone technologies in the field of biodiversity and climate.
Project partners from Côte d'Ivoire like the Ministère de l'Environnement et de la Transition Écologique (MINETE), CURAT – Centre Universitaire de Recherche et d'Application en Télédétection and the Ivorian Civil Drone Operators Association will be presenting their innovative use cases, educational initiatives and work around an innovation friendly regulatory environment.
XPONENTIAL Europe is Europe’s leading gathering for uncrewed systems, autonomy, and robotics, convening senior decision-makers from industry, government, research institutions, and investment communities.
The Africa Pavilion will serve as a dedicated platform to showcase export-ready African drone and robotics innovators while strengthening Africa–Europe commercial, technology, and policy partnerships.
“Additional initiatives connected to the Africa Pavilion will include the publication of the official Africa Pavilion Magazine, available in both print and digital formats, featuring participating organizations and the 2026 State of the African Drone Industry Report,” the forum said in its statement.
“ADF will also convene a closed-door EU–Africa UAS Leadership Roundtable in partnership with UAV DACH, bringing together regulators, manufacturers, investors, and ecosystem leaders to explore collaboration, regulatory alignment, and investment opportunities between African and European drone sectors.”
The Africa Pavilion is expected to attract interest from European governments, development agencies, technology integrators, investors, and corporate buyers seeking vetted African partners with real-world deployment experience.
The African Drone Forum is a non-profit organisation dedicated to advancing the responsible adoption of drone, robotics, and emerging technologies across Africa. It works with governments, development partners, investors, and the private sector to support ecosystem development, market entry, training, and policy dialogue.