Joy Agwunobi
Meta, in partnership with Data Science Africa, has launched the Llama Impact Grant, a $20,000 funding opportunity aimed at supporting startups and researchers in Sub-Saharan Africa.
This initiative seeks to drive innovation by encouraging the development of solutions tailored to the region’s unique challenges.
Meta highlighted the potential of technology to enhance human productivity, accelerate economic growth, and advance medical and scientific research. The company is inviting proposals from individuals and organisations that can leverage its technology to create solutions with economic and social impact, particularly in areas such as health, science, and agriculture.
The initiative is part of Meta’s broader commitment to fostering innovation, with its technology already being utilised worldwide to localise educational content and expand access to medical information in underserved communities. The Llama Impact Grant is an extension of this effort, providing a platform for startups and researchers to refine their ideas and bring them to market.
Since its inception in October 2023, Meta’s global funding program has attracted over 800 applications from more than 90 countries. Previous projects supported under the initiative include a multilingual digital assistant designed to provide real-time agricultural advice to small-scale farmers and a maternal health support system that connects expectant mothers to essential care services across several African nations.
The company highlighted that previous finalists include Digital Green’s Farmer Chat project, an AI-powered multilingual chatbot designed to offer real-time agricultural advice to small-scale farmers, and Jacaranda Health’s PROMPTS, a digital health tool that uses AI-driven SMS support to guide expectant mothers in Kenya, Ghana, and Eswatini toward better maternal care.
Applications for the Llama Impact Grant will be evaluated based on the following criteria: clear description of an application with a compelling use case that makes use of Llama; clear path to impact and large potential user base for the solution; team composition and expertise; ethical product development; realistic budget and timeline. Meta has urged interested applicants to submit their proposals through the online portal before the April 18, 2025, deadline.
Speaking on the initiative, Balkissa Ide Siddo, public policy director, Sub-Saharan Africa at Meta commented, “We are 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 are 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,” Ide Siddo added.
