Daniel Kweku Merki
Zipline Ghana is engaging the government on ways to better leverage its drone delivery network to support the rollout of free primary healthcare nationwide.
Country Director for Zipline Ghana, Daniel Kweku Merki, in an interview with the Daily Guide Network said, “We are in discussions with the Ministry of Health, with other agencies in government, on how Zipline should be used going forward.”
“For Ghana to do [free primary healthcare] in a cost-efficient manner, I can’t see a better tool than Zipline,” he added.
According to Mr. Merki, Zipline has completed more than 800,000 commercial deliveries in the country since operations began in 2019. The company has also delivered 4.6 million medical products, including more than 19 million vaccine doses and “10,000s” of blood units and animal vaccines. Zipline also serves more than 3,000 health facilities and says it has helped save in excess of 12,000 lives.
He stated that Zipline’s model shifts distribution from a “push system” based on forecasts to a “pull system” based on actual demand, which reduces stockouts and waste.
Aligning with the government’s expansion of free primary healthcare nationwide, Mr. Merki said Zipline is “an ideal tool” to ensure every Ghanaian has equal access, especially in rural and hard-to-reach areas.
With about 11 million people currently outside the National Health Insurance Scheme, he said drone delivery could help the government deliver on free primary healthcare, the National Health Insurance Scheme, and the Ghana Medical Trust Fund, also called, “Mahama Cares.”
“Zipline is a technology and infrastructure provider, and we need exactly such initiatives by government to drive the direction,” he said. “We can extend to hard-to-reach areas and we can really serve the rural areas of Ghana.”
“Opportunity” To Build More Efficient Systems
Touching on the need for African leaders to use technology to achieve health sovereignty as foreign aid contracts, the Country Director for Zipline Ghana said the withdrawal of donor funding presents both a challenge and an opportunity for countries like Ghana to build more cost-effective health systems.
Citing an example from early 2025, he said Zipline used its existing government subscription to deliver commodities previously financed by USID from its Vobsi hub – near Walewale in the North East Region “at no extra cost.”
“The main thing is to leverage technology and leverage data and insights to build a system that is really geared towards local realities and ensures that wastage is reduced and efficiency is driven,” he said.
Beyond Health: 24-Hour Economy And Agriculture
Mr. Merki disclosed that Zipline is also proposing new use cases beyond health, including support for government’s 24-hour economy policy and the Volta Economic Corridor.
He pointed to Rwanda, where Zipline delivers semen for artificial insemination, as a model that could be replicated in Ghana’s livestock sector. The company also sees potential in delivering animal vaccines.
He said proposals aligned to government initiatives are being prepared and that engagement with government is ‘constant.’
Value For Money
With public scrutiny on government spending increasing, Mr. Merki said Zipline is “very open” to audits and to working with government to ensure the service is used efficiently.
He said research has showed Zipline’s impact in the country’s healthcare delivery system.
“A study in the Ashanti Region found a 56.4% reduction in maternal mortality in facilities served by Zipline compared to those not served. Researchers attributed the change to increased hospital visits and in-hospital births because patients could rely on supplies being available,” he cited.
“In Western North, another study showed child immunization rates increased between 13% and 37% depending on the vaccine,” he noted.
“The question is how the Ghanaian taxpayer gets real return on investment into Zipline,” he said. “How do we ensure that these maternal mortality rate reductions happen across the country?”
He gave the example of anti-snake venom. Without drones, he said the government must choose between stocking every facility and risking waste, or not stocking and risking deaths.
But with Zipline, he said, products can be centralized and delivered on demand.
Call to African leaders
Asked what message he would send to African leaders after the AU Summit in Accra, Mr. Merki said technology gives governments “leverage in terms of healthcare impact and return on investment.”
“You look at challenges on ground and then apply modern technologies, you can find solutions that nobody would have thought of,” he said. “If you really combine with understanding what’s happening on ground, you can build systems that can truly serve our citizens in ways that even legacy systems in other parts of the world cannot.”
He cited Rwanda’s centralized blood processing supported by drone delivery. About 75% of blood deliveries outside Kigali and 51% nationwide are done by Zipline, allowing for modern, centralised processing and faster delivery.
“Before, when you look at it, you wouldn’t necessarily understand all of the things that you can use the technology for. But as you deploy the technology, you build it around what’s possible on ground,” Merki said.
A Daily Guide Report