Meta, in collaboration with Data Science Africa, is excited to announce the launch of the Llama Impact Grant, aimed at supporting startups and researchers based in Sub-Saharan Africa. This initiative is part of Meta's global Llama Impact Grants program, designed to foster innovative projects that leverage Llama, Meta's advanced open-source large language model, to create solutions tailored to the unique needs of the region.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) holds unprecedented potential to enhance human productivity and creativity, stimulate economic growth, and advance medical and scientific research. To harness this potential, Meta is inviting proposals from organizations and individuals across Sub-Saharan Africa that utilize its open-source Llama model for projects with significant economic and social impact, particularly in sectors such as health, science, and agriculture.
The selected proposal will be awarded a grant of USD $20,000 to support the development and market launch of their innovative solutions.
Balkissa Ide Siddo, Public Policy Director for Sub-Saharan Africa at Meta, remarked, "We're still in the early days, but AI is likely to fundamentally change every aspect of our lives – spurring innovation, turbo-charging growth, and driving an explosion in learning and productivity. At the forefront of this transformation are open-source AI models like Meta's Llama, which are available for free for organizations to use, modify, and build upon."
Through the Llama Impact Grant program, Meta aims to support and scale AI-driven solutions that address the continent's distinct social and economic challenges, empowering innovators to create meaningful impacts across the region.
Meta's family of Llama AI models has been downloaded over 1 billion times globally. The Llama models, including the latest version, Llama 3.3, are open-source, making them accessible for organizations to utilize and develop without the constraints typically associated with commercial models. Businesses of all sizes have employed Llama to create innovative products and tools that benefit individuals and society, from localizing educational materials to improving access to medical information in underserved communities.
The Llama Impact Grant for Startups and Researchers is part of a broader Llama Impact Grants program launched in October 2023. This global initiative aims to identify innovative use cases for Llama to address pressing global challenges in areas such as education and open innovation. Since its inception, the program has received over 800 applications from more than 90 countries.
Previous finalists include:
• Digital Green's Farmer Chat project, which is developing a multilingual AI chatbot to provide tailored agricultural advisory services to small-scale farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa. The Llama model is being fine-tuned with extensive agricultural data to cater to the specific needs of various regions, delivering comprehensive responses in multiple languages, including Hindi, Swahili, and Kikuyu.
• Jacaranda Health, which aims to expand its digital health tool, PROMPTS, utilizing SMS behavioral nudges and an AI-enabled clinical helpdesk to empower new and expecting mothers in Kenya, Ghana, and Eswatini to access timely and appropriate care.
Proposals for the Llama Impact Grant will be evaluated based on several criteria, including:
• A clear description of the application with a compelling use case for Llama
• A defined path to impact with a large potential user base
• Team composition and expertise
• Ethical product development practices
• A realistic budget and timeline
Interested applicants are encouraged to submit their proposals through the online application portal by the submission deadline of April 18, 2025. For more details on how to apply, please visit the application portal.
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