Meta Launches Llama Impact Grant to Empower African Startups and Researchers

Meta, in collaboration with Data Science Africa, has unveiled the Llama Impact Grant to support startups and researchers across Sub-Saharan Africa. As part of Meta's global Llama Impact Grants, this initiative seeks to foster innovative projects that utilise Llama, Meta's advanced open-source large language model, to create tailored solutions addressing regional challenges.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) stands as one of the most transformative modern technologies, with the ability to enhance human productivity, stimulate economic growth, and drive progress in medical and scientific research. To harness this potential, Meta invites proposals from organisations and individuals in Sub-Saharan Africa leveraging its open-source Llama model for high-impact projects in sectors such as health, science, and agriculture. The selected proposal will be awarded a USD$20,000 grant to help develop and implement their solution.

Balkissa Ide Siddo, Public Policy Director for Sub-Saharan Africa at Meta, emphasized the importance of AI in shaping the future: "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."

Meta’s Llama AI models have been downloaded over 1 billion times worldwide. The latest iteration, Llama 3.3, remains open-source, providing free access for organisations to utilize and refine AI technology. These models have been instrumental in driving innovation—whether by localising educational materials or expanding access to medical information in underserved communities.

The Llama Impact Grant for Startups and Researchers is part of Meta’s broader Llama Impact Grants initiative, which was launched in October 2023. This global program sources innovative applications of Meta’s open-source AI models to address critical global challenges in areas such as education and open innovation. Since its inception, over 800 applications have been received from 90+ countries, with past finalists including:

Digital Green’s Farmer Chat Project: A multilingual AI chatbot offering customised agricultural advice to small-scale farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa. By fine-tuning Llama on a vast agricultural data repository, the model can deliver localised, practical guidance in multiple languages, including Hindi, Swahili, and Kikuyu.

Jacaranda Health: Expanding its digital health tool, PROMPTS, which employs SMS behavioural nudges and an AI-driven clinical helpdesk to assist new and expecting mothers in Kenya, Ghana, and Eswatini. The long-term goal is to establish PROMPTS as the leading platform for personalised maternal and newborn healthcare support across Sub-Saharan Africa.

Proposals will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

• A well-defined application with a compelling Llama use case
• Clear impact potential and scalability
• Strong team expertise and composition
• Ethical product development approach
• Feasibility of budget and timeline

Interested applicants can submit their proposals through the online application portal before the deadline on April 18, 2025.