Meta and Data Science Africa are set to drive social and economic progress in Sub-Saharan Africa with Llama Impact Grant, a $20,000 funding opportunity for startups and researchers based in Sub-Saharan Africa.
According to a statement by Meta, the global Llama Impact Grants program aims to support innovative projects that leverage Llama, Meta’s open-source large language model (LLM), to drive economic and social progress in the region.
“Artificial Intelligence (AI) is poised to drive significant advancements in human productivity, economic growth, and scientific research. Recognizing this potential, Meta is calling for proposals from organizations and individuals across Sub-Saharan Africa who are using Llama to develop impactful projects in health, science, and agriculture,” it said.
Speaking on the initiative, Balkissa Ide Siddo, Public Policy Director for Sub-Saharan Africa at Meta, emphasised on the transformative potential of AI, “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 organisations to use, modify, and build on. Through this grant program, we’re hoping to support and scale AI-driven solutions across Africa that use our open-source model Llama to address the continent’s unique social and economic challenges, empowering innovators to drive meaningful impact across the region,” Siddo said.
Meta’s Llama AI models have been downloaded more than one billion times globally, with businesses of all sizes using them to create innovative tools that enhance education, healthcare, and social development.
“The latest model, Llama 3.3, continues to push the boundaries of AI accessibility by being freely available to developers and organisations,” the statement added.
