Meta has unveiled its new Llama 3.1 Impact Grants, a funding initiative designed to support AI-driven startups globally, with a special focus on regions including Africa, the Middle East, and Turkey.

The program, which boasts a funding pool of up to $2 million, aims to back organizations that are leveraging AI to address significant social issues within their communities.

In a statement released recently, Meta invited companies worldwide to submit proposals for how they plan to use its AI technology, Llama, to drive positive change.

The company emphasized that particular attention will be given to proposals focusing on economic development, scientific innovation, public service, and other critical areas that impact society.

Selected applicants stand to receive up to $500,000 in funding, with the announcement of winners scheduled for early 2025.

The application window for the grants is open from August 5, 2024, to November 22, 2024.Meta outlined specific eligibility criteria for applicants.

The program is open to organizations that are legally established entities formed before August 5, 2023.

Individuals, sole proprietors, and sole-owner entities are not eligible to apply.

Each organization must designate an individual aged 18 or older to act on its behalf during the application process.

Kojo Boakye, Meta’s Vice President of Public Policy for Africa, the Middle East, and Turkey, highlighted the company’s commitment to harnessing open-source AI to tackle global challenges.

“We’re inspired by the diverse projects we’ve seen developers undertake around the world to positively impact their communities by building with Llama,” Boakye said.

“The Llama 3.1 Impact Grants program presents an opportunity to further empower organizations to leverage AI for social good and to drive meaningful change.”

To support potential applicants, Meta announced plans to host a series of regional events, including virtual meetings, in-person hackathons, workshops, and training sessions.

These events will take place in a wide array of locations such as Egypt, India, Saudi Arabia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and more.

These sessions aim to provide technical guidance and mentorship, and participating organizations may also qualify for specialized awards of up to $100,000.

This initiative marks a significant step in Meta’s broader mission to use AI technology to improve human productivity, creativity, and quality of life while fostering economic growth and advancing scientific research.

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Tech Digest – As part of its continued commitment and ongoing investment in Africa, Facebook has announced it will be opening an office in Lagos, Nigeria – its second office on the African continent.
Aimed at supporting the entire Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) region, the office is expected to become operational in H2 2021 and will be the first on the continent to house a team of expert engineers building for the future of Africa and beyond.
Facebook’s office will be home to various teams servicing the continent from across the business, including Sales, Partnerships, Policy, Communications as well as Engineers.
Commenting, Facebook’s Head of New Product Experimentation, Ime Archibong said: “The opening of our new office in Lagos, Nigeria presents new and exciting opportunities in digital innovations to be developed from the continent and taken to the rest of the world. All across Africa we’re seeing immense talent in the tech ecosystem, and I’m proud that with the upcoming opening of our new office, we’ll be building products for the future of Africa, and the rest of the world, with Africans at the helm. We look forward to contributing further to the African tech ecosystem.”

The investment of the new Facebook office follows the 2018 opening of NG_Hub, its first flagship community hub space in Africa in partnership with CcHub, and the 2019 opening of a Small Business Group (SBG) Operations Centre in Lagos, in partnership with Teleperformance. Providing outsourced support to all English-speaking advertisers across SSA, the SBG office supports Small Medium Businesses (SMBs) through its Advocacy, Community & Education (ACE) programme, as well as its Marketing Expert sales programmes – all aimed at enabling SMBs to accelerate the growth and development of their businesses.

Facebook’s Director of Public Policy, Africa, Kojo Boakye, said: “Our new office in Nigeria presents an important milestone which further reinforces our ongoing commitment to the region. “Our mission in Africa is no different to elsewhere in the world – to build community and bring the world closer together, and I’m excited about the possibilities that this will create, not just in Nigeria, but across Africa.”

Since the opening of its first office in 2015, Facebook has made a number of investments across the continent, aimed at supporting and growing the tech ecosystem, expanding and providing reliable connectivity infrastructures and helping businesses to grow locally, regionally and globally.

This includes the recent rollout of its SMB Grants programme in Nigeria and South Africa, aimed at supporting over 900 businesses by providing a combination of cash and ad credits to help small businesses as they rebuild from COVID.

The development of 2Africa, the world’s largest subsea cable project that will deliver much needed internet capacity and reliability across large parts of Africa, as well as its ongoing training programmes across the continent which support various communities including students, SMBs, digital creatives, female entrepreneurs, start-up’s and developers.

Regional Director, Facebook Africa, Nunu Ntshingila, said: “We’re delighted to be announcing our new office in Nigeria. Five years on from opening our first office on the continent in Johannesburg, South Africa, we’re continuing to invest in and support local talent, as well as the various communities that use our platforms. The office in Lagos will also be key in helping to expand how we service our clients across the continent.”

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