Drones will be used to deliver blood and vaccines to transfusion centres in Rwanda to help speed up deliveries in the east African country.
The initiative is part of president Paul Kagame's plan to use technology to help the country reach middle-income status within the next decade.
Zipline, a Silicon Valley start-up behind the drone technology, plans to launch the service by August.
Delivery company UPS is backing Zipline in a partnership which also includes Gavi, a group providing vaccines to poor countries.
The drones will make deliveries to half of the transfusion centres in the country of 11 million people, which they claim will make it 20 times faster than by land.
At the World Economic Forum on Africa, president Kagame said: "Drones are very useful things and we're investing our time and resources and everything in this area.
"But at the same time we are aware of certain risks involved but which are manageable," he said.
Keller Rinaudo, Zipline's chief executive, told a news conference in Kigali the firm had spent $12m developing drones.
The planned service will use 12 to 15 of the unmanned aircraft.
"The first flight actually delivering may occur in late July or late August. We are locating the system in Muhanga (in southern Rwanda) and we'll be serving most of the transfusing facilities in the western half of the country.
"By the end of 2017, we can be covering the entire country of Rwanda," he said.
Companies in the United States and elsewhere are keen to use drones to cut delivery times and costs, but there are hurdles ranging from the risk of collisions with airplanes to ensuring battery safety and longevity.
As far back as 2013, online retailer Amazon said it was testing delivery using drones and Google has promised such a service by 2017. Walmart is also is the testing stages.
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