For many countries in the world, and particularly those in Africa, a location is defined by landmarks and not street names and house numbers. If you are native to the area this is not a problem. Everyone in the community knows the third hill after the baobab tree. However, when it comes to efficient logistics and service delivery this can present a challenge. If, for example, a pregnant woman needed to use a ride hailing service, to get to a hospital for her delivery, it would be vitally important for the taxi to get to her correct location.
“Plus Codes” are the friendly name given to Google’s Open Location Code system. The marketing copy describes them as “street addresses for people or places that don’t have one”. They system is based on latitude and longitude to give a location a unique code.
The plus code for the current BongoHive office in Lusaka is J877+86.
Plus codes might offer your logistics a convenient way to address or locate your next service point.
