"A new initiative in South Africa was launched to train more than 500 women from remote villages as commercial drone pilots, seeking to address gender inequality and fill high-demand technical roles. Footage filmed on Tuesday shows drone instructors teaching a group of trainees. Trainees are later seen flying drones by themselves under the instructor's guidance. "When the government first started sponsoring young ladies from the villages, the question was, if you can't ride a bicycle, how can you possibly become a commercial pilot?" Women Empowering Women Programme CEO Ian Malamed said. He noted that with proper training, several women can obtain pilot licenses, with some now flying commercially. "The foundation that we're trying to lay is to make sure that we train somebody to fly a platform that will ultimately carry a camera or some other type of sensor," drone instructor Henry Berry remarked. Trainee Rubina Burnham said the aviation industry has always intrigued her, saying, "I definitely wanted to take a chance to venture into the programme." The privately-funded programme, aligned with South Africa's B-BBEE (Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment) policy, aims to place graduates in fields such as wildlife conservation and precision agriculture. The initiative underscores efforts to close skills gaps in Africa's expanding drone industry while addressing gender inequality and unemployment in rural communities."