An employee of the Ivorian Electricity company pilots a drone that ensures the monitoring of the high voltage electric network at Electricity Professional Center in Bingerville, near Abidjan. Ivory Coast is home to one of the first 'drone academies' for aspiring pilots. Sia Kambou/AFP
An employee of the Ivorian Electricity company pilots a drone that ensures the monitoring of the high voltage electric network at Electricity Professional Center in Bingerville, near Abidjan. Ivory Coast is home to one of the first 'drone academies' for aspiring pilots. Sia Kambou/AFP
An employee of the Ivorian Electricity company pilots a drone that ensures the monitoring of the high voltage electric network at Electricity Professional Center in Bingerville, near Abidjan. Ivory Coast is home to one of the first 'drone academies' for aspiring pilots. Sia Kambou/AFP
An employee of the Ivorian Electricity company pilots a drone that ensures the monitoring of the high voltage electric network at Electricity Professional Center in Bingerville, near Abidjan. Ivory Co

Ivory Coast drone school aims high


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"Drones have become my passion," says Noursely Doumbia, who holds a degree in electronics and is currently learning to pilot drones as part of a pioneering programme in Ivory Coast's economic capital Abidjan.

The training is being offered at a new "drone academy" which has been set up by the Ivorian Electricity Company (CIE) to revolutionise the inspection of its infrastructure and ultimately to reduce costs.

Although common in Europe, the use of drones is still in its infancy in West Africa although the commercial market for unmanned aircraft is expanding.

The aim is for CIE - which is majority-owned by France's Eranove Group, a key provider of water and electricity in West Africa - to train around 20 local pilots to inspect its high-voltage lines which criss-cross the country, stretching more than 25,000 kilometres.

"We have a lot of problems with vegetation, we need to clear it all the time and it's difficult because it's all across the whole country," says Benjamin Mathon, a pilot who is in charge of CIE's drone and youth training programme.

Dirt tracks that are impassable following heavy rain, widespread areas of lush tropical vegetation and a patchy road network often conspire to make access to electricity pylons difficult in a country which covers 322,000 square kilometres - nearly two-thirds the area of France.

After overflying an area with a drone equipped with cameras and thermal and laser sensors, "we use artificial intelligence programmes which analyse the images for any defects, a rusty bolt on a pylon, a damaged cable," says Mr Mathon.

"The drone allows us to analyse a large number of lines in a short space of time, across great distances."

Not only do students learn how to fly drones, as well as how to assemble and repair them, but are they also trained to use different software packages for analysing the images and resulting data, as well as geolocalisation and mapping.

"This is a major technological leap forward for CIE" and its 4,500 employees, says CIE director general Dominique Kakou.

The drones enable CIE to "to inspect our infrastructure and ensure its safety in a much more pinpointed way, and also to optimise our costs and expenses", he says.

Before now, all inspections were done by helicopter or by teams on the ground, Mr Mathon says.

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"Using helicopters is expensive, and on foot, you have to send out teams to areas which can be difficult to reach, which can create problems."

The financial savings are undeniable: the cost of purchasing a helicopter is around €500,000 (Dh2.2 million), with each one hour flight costing another €1,200.

A drone, however, costs between €2,000 and €100,000 to buy, its upkeep is simple and flight costs are negligible.

The company is hoping to improve its quality of service by reducing the average length of power outages - which are still relatively frequent in parts of the country - for its 1.3 million customers in Ivory Coast.

And it hopes to do the same for its customer base in neighbouring Ghana, Togo, Benin, Burkina Faso and Mali.

Since 2011, following a decade of political and military crisis, Ivory Coast has invested heavily in rebuilding its electricity grid, with the authorities planning to plough another €16 billion into the sector by 2030.

"The electricity sector is evolving very fast, we must adopt new technologies and innovation," says Mr Kakou who says the company has already invested in electronic payment schemes and solar energy.

But the drone academy is not just serving the electricity sector: it is open to any business in West Africa which could benefit from the technology, from farming to mining, says Paul Ginies, director of the Centre for Electrical Professions, CIE's training division.

"These new professions provide a way in for young people," he says.

"I'm sure that young Africans are going to grab hold of this and surprise us by developing applications which we have not thought of. It's their generation."

Alice Kouadio, another trainee pilot from the first group of students, has no doubt.

"The world is a drone, it's the promise of tomorrow."

PROFILE BOX:

Company/date started: 2015

Founder/CEO: Rami Salman, Rishav Jalan, Ayush Chordia

Based: Dubai, UAE

Sector: Technology, Sales, Voice, Artificial Intelligence

Size: (employees/revenue) 10/ 100,000 downloads

Stage: 1 ($800,000)

Investors: Eight first-round investors including, Beco Capital, 500 Startups, Dubai Silicon Oasis, Hala Fadel, Odin Financial Services, Dubai Angel Investors, Womena, Arzan VC

 

The Farewell

Director: Lulu Wang

Stars: Awkwafina, Zhao Shuzhen, Diana Lin, Tzi Ma

Four stars

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Keane on …

Liverpool’s Uefa Champions League bid: “They’re great. With the attacking force they have, for me, they’re certainly one of the favourites. You look at the teams left in it - they’re capable of scoring against anybody at any given time. Defensively they’ve been good, so I don’t see any reason why they couldn’t go on and win it.”

Mohamed Salah’s debut campaign at Anfield: “Unbelievable. He’s been phenomenal. You can name the front three, but for him on a personal level, he’s been unreal. He’s been great to watch and hopefully he can continue now until the end of the season - which I’m sure he will, because he’s been in fine form. He’s been incredible this season.”

Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s instant impact at former club LA Galaxy: “Brilliant. It’s been a great start for him and for the club. They were crying out for another big name there. They were lacking that, for the prestige of LA Galaxy. And now they have one of the finest stars. I hope they can go win something this year.”

How does ToTok work?

The calling app is available to download on Google Play and Apple App Store

To successfully install ToTok, users are asked to enter their phone number and then create a nickname.

The app then gives users the option add their existing phone contacts, allowing them to immediately contact people also using the application by video or voice call or via message.

Users can also invite other contacts to download ToTok to allow them to make contact through the app.

 

The five pillars of Islam

1. Fasting 

2. Prayer 

3. Hajj 

4. Shahada 

5. Zakat 

2018 ICC World Twenty20 Asian Western Regional Qualifier

Saturday results
Qatar beat Kuwait by 26 runs
Bahrain beat Maldives by six wickets
UAE beat Saudi Arabia by seven wickets

Monday fixtures
Maldives v Qatar
Saudi Arabia v Kuwait
Bahrain v UAE

* The top three teams progress to the Asia Qualifier

Company Profile

Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
 
Started: 2020
 
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
 
Based: Dubai, UAE
 
Sector: Entertainment 
 
Number of staff: 210 
 
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners

Pupils in Abu Dhabi are learning the importance of being active, eating well and leading a healthy lifestyle now and throughout adulthood, thanks to a newly launched programme 'Healthy Lifestyle'.

As part of the Healthy Lifestyle programme, specially trained coaches from City Football Schools, along with Healthpoint physicians have visited schools throughout Abu Dhabi to give fun and interactive lessons on working out regularly, making the right food choices, getting enough sleep and staying hydrated, just like their favourite footballers.

Organised by Manchester City FC and Healthpoint, Manchester City FC’s regional healthcare partner and part of Mubadala’s healthcare network, the ‘Healthy Lifestyle’ programme will visit 15 schools, meeting around 1,000 youngsters over the next five months.

Designed to give pupils all the information they need to improve their diet and fitness habits at home, at school and as they grow up, coaches from City Football Schools will work alongside teachers to lead the youngsters through a series of fun, creative and educational classes as well as activities, including playing football and other games.

Dr Mai Ahmed Al Jaber, head of public health at Healthpoint, said: “The programme has different aspects - diet, exercise, sleep and mental well-being. By having a focus on each of those and delivering information in a way that children can absorb easily it can help to address childhood obesity."

UAE squad

Humaira Tasneem (c), Chamani Senevirathne (vc), Subha Srinivasan, NIsha Ali, Udeni Kuruppuarachchi, Chaya Mughal, Roopa Nagraj, Esha Oza, Ishani Senevirathne, Heena Hotchandani, Keveesha Kumari, Judith Cleetus, Chavi Bhatt, Namita D’Souza.

At a glance

Fixtures All matches start at 9.30am, at ICC Academy, Dubai. Admission is free

Thursday UAE v Ireland; Saturday UAE v Ireland; Jan 21 UAE v Scotland; Jan 23 UAE v Scotland

UAE squad Rohan Mustafa (c), Ashfaq Ahmed, Ghulam Shabber, Rameez Shahzad, Mohammed Boota, Mohammed Usman, Adnan Mufti, Shaiman Anwar, Ahmed Raza, Imran Haider, Qadeer Ahmed, Mohammed Naveed, Amir Hayat, Zahoor Khan