Reflecting on Botswana’s Drone Ecosystem

When Botswana Flying Labs began its journey, the vision was clear: to help build a stronger, more inclusive drone, data, and AI ecosystem in Botswana — one that could support education, disaster preparedness, community resilience, evidence-based planning, and locally led innovation. 

From the beginning, our work was shaped by a belief that drone technology should not only serve commercial or highly resourced sectors. It should also reach communities, schools, young people, public institutions, and development spaces that could benefit from better data, better visibility, and better tools for decision-making. 

The Drone Ecosystem in Botswana 

When we started working in this space, Botswana’s drone ecosystem was still at a very early stage. Most public understanding of drones was linked to photography, videography, and some agricultural use cases. There was some use of photogrammetry and drone data, particularly within large mines and selected survey projects, but wider adoption remained limited. 

There were a few companies operating in the sector, some with their own pilots and internal capabilities. At the same time, much of the broader activity remained informal, with many individuals using drones without structured training or a clear understanding of the wider potential of the technology. Drone training existed, but it was not yet deeply embedded in a formal, nationally coordinated ecosystem. 

Since then, awareness has improved significantly. More people now understand that drones can support mapping, infrastructure inspection, disaster response, agriculture, security, environmental monitoring, and data collection. Larger enterprises have begun to appreciate these use cases more clearly. However, for the everyday Motswana, the broader value of drones, data, and AI is still not fully understood. 

Botswana’s drone ecosystem has therefore grown in awareness, but it remains early-stage in terms of structured adoption, funding pathways, policy integration, and institutional demand. 

Challenges and Opportunities 

One of the biggest lessons from our journey is that the challenge was not proving the value of drones. The challenge was converting demonstrated value into funded, institutionalised programmes. Many of the use cases were clear. Drones could support disaster risk mapping, flood monitoring, town planning, infrastructure development, environmental management, STEM/STEAM education, youth skills development, and geospatial decision making. The value was visible. The difficulty was building sustainable pathways through which that value could be adopted, funded, and scaled.

Botswana is a country where many development initiatives depend heavily on institutional support. This creates both an opportunity and a challenge. When public institutions are aligned, drone and data technologies can be scaled in powerful ways. When that alignment is missing, even strong ideas and demonstrated use cases can struggle to move forward. 

We also found that social-good work is difficult to sustain without a clear funding model. Community demonstrations, school engagement, workshops, mapping projects, and emergency-response support all require time, equipment, people, and resources. Passion can start the work, but sustainability requires structure. 

Despite these challenges, the opportunities remain significant. 

Botswana still has a major opportunity to use drones and geospatial data for disaster preparedness, especially in areas vulnerable to flooding. Drone mapping can support better planning before disasters occur, not just response after damage has already been done. Town planning, risk mapping, infrastructure monitoring, and environmental management can all benefit from drone-enabled data. 

There is also a major opportunity in education. Young people need practical exposure to technologies that can help them participate in the future economy. STEM/STEAM education should not only reach well-resourced schools. It should also reach underserved communities, where exposure to technology can open new pathways of thinking, learning, and opportunity. 

AI-assisted geospatial decision-making is another future opportunity, but it requires foundational understanding first. Before communities and institutions can fully benefit from AI, there must be stronger awareness of data, mapping, digital tools, and how these technologies can support practical decision-making. 

Achievements and Lessons 

One of the achievements we are most proud of was our early commitment to STEM/STEAM education in underserved communities. Rather than focusing only on private schools or well-resourced environments, we chose to work from the bottom up. We adopted Mahotshwane Primary School, located in a village with fewer than 2,000 people, with the goal of supporting early exposure to STEM and eventually developing a Setswana STEM programme. 

Although we were not able to take the programme as far as we had hoped, the intention remains important to us. Technology education must be accessible. If young people are only introduced to innovation after they reach university or after they enter the labour market, the country loses valuable years of curiosity, confidence, and capacity strengthening. 

Another important achievement was the WeRobotics TDIA microgrant we received in 2024, which allowed us to map the Segoditshane River. This work was carried out with the involvement of students and professors from the University of Botswana in an informal collaborative capacity. The project gave students practical exposure to drones, mapping, and real-world data collection. We also held workshops at the university, where several students became interested in drones and their potential applications. 

The Segoditshane work was especially meaningful because it connected drone mapping to disaster-risk awareness. Botswana needs more of this type of practical, preventative data work. Too often, technology is discussed in abstract terms. Through this project, we were able to show how drone data could support real-world understanding of risk, terrain, and planning. 

We are also proud of the support we provided to a university student who needed urgent help with a final-year project. After struggling to find support elsewhere, the student reached out to us with less than a week left before the end of the semester. We assisted by conducting thermal mapping of a bridge and helping him build the technical basis for his final report. For us, this reflected the kind of role Botswana Flying Labs was always meant to play: practical, responsive, locally available, and committed to helping people use technology for real needs. 

During the 2025 floods, our team also provided aerial support during the emergency response. We used drones to support situational awareness, live visibility, and response efforts. This experience reinforced the importance of drone technology in disaster management and showed how locally available drone capability can support communities and institutions during moments of urgency. The Ministry of State President recognised and thanked us for this work with a certificate of appreciation. 

The biggest lesson from these experiences is that innovation requires more than technology. It requires trust, institutional openness, funding, coordination, and long-term ecosystem support. A drone can capture data, but an ecosystem is needed to turn that data into action. 

Creating a More Enabling Environment 

For drones, data, and AI to grow meaningfully in Botswana, several conditions are needed. 

First, Botswana needs a clearer national strategy for drones, data, and AI. These technologies should not be treated as isolated tools or short-term projects. They should be integrated into national development priorities, including education, infrastructure, agriculture, mining, disaster management, urban planning, health logistics, and environmental monitoring. 

Second, there must be transparent pathways for pilot projects. Local innovators need a fair opportunity to demonstrate value, receive feedback, and scale successful projects. Without clear pathways, promising ideas can remain stuck at the demonstration stage.

Third, funding models need to support locally led innovation. Social-good drone work cannot depend only on volunteer energy, unpaid advocacy, or unfunded demonstrations. If the work has public value, there must be mechanisms to fund, procure, and sustain it. 

Fourth, public institutions, universities, private companies, and community organisations need stronger collaboration. Botswana has talent, but the ecosystem is still fragmented. Universities can support research and student development. Government can create policy direction and demand. The private sector can help commercialise and scale solutions. Community organisations can ensure that technology remains grounded in real needs. 

Fifth, STEM/STEAM education should be integrated more deliberately into public schools. Technology exposure should begin early and should include practical learning. Drones can be powerful tools for teaching science, geography, engineering, coding, mapping, and problem-solving. 

Finally, Botswana must continue building local capability. Importing technology is not enough. The country needs local pilots, local data analysts, local trainers, local maintenance capability, local entrepreneurs, and local problem-solvers who understand the context and can build solutions from within. 

Why We Are Pausing 

The decision to pause our operations as Botswana Flying Labs was not made lightly. 

Botswana Flying Labs was built with a strong mission and a clear belief in the role that drones, data, and AI could play in national development. However, over time, it became clear that the operating model needed to be reassessed. The ecosystem conditions required to sustain this work were not yet mature enough to support the level of long-term impact we wanted to create. 

This pause is therefore not a rejection of the mission; it is a strategic reset. 

We want to use this period to reflect, document lessons, reassess the sustainability model, and explore how Botswana Flying Labs could return in a form that is better aligned with ecosystem realities and long-term impact. We also want to think more deeply about how community-focused drone work can be supported without relying only on unpaid advocacy, personal sacrifice, or unfunded public-interest demonstrations. The work remains important, the need remains clear, but for the mission to continue responsibly, the model must be sustainable.

Looking Ahead 

To our partners, supporters, and the broader Flying Labs Network, we want to say thank you! 

Botswana Flying Labs is proud of the work that was attempted and achieved. We are grateful for the support, encouragement, and opportunities that came through the Flying Labs Network. Being part of this global community has helped us see Botswana’s challenges within a wider movement of locally led innovation, responsible technology, and social impact. 

This is a pause, not an end. 

We remain hopeful that the foundation laid through Botswana Flying Labs will contribute to the future of drones, data, and AI in Botswana. We also hope that, when the time is right, the work can return in a stronger and more sustainable form. 

The mission remains valid: to use technology in ways that serve people, strengthen communities, and support better decisions. 

Botswana still has the potential to build a meaningful drone, data, and AI ecosystem. For that to happen, the country will need more than technology. It will need openness, collaboration, funding, trust, and a serious commitment to locally led innovation. 

That is the future we still believe in. 

Rea Leboga!