Safaricom gets additional KES 15 Billion Loan | ByteDance to Shut Down TikTok Music

Today’s Menu ☕️

🤖 Meta Announces 2023 Llama Impact Grants and Innovation Award Winners
📱Safaricom Secures Additional KES 15 Billion Sustainability-Linked Loan, Pushing Total to KES 30 Billion
🎼 ByteDance to Shut Down TikTok Music Globally by November 2024
🪙 OpenAI Academy: Empowering Global Communities Through AI

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🪙 ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

OpenAI Academy: Empowering Global Communities Through AI

OpenAI has announced the launch of the OpenAI Academy, an initiative designed to equip developers and mission-driven organizations with the tools, skills, and resources to harness the transformative power of artificial intelligence (AI). The Academy aims to help address critical challenges faced by communities, especially in low- and middle-income countries, through innovation and sustainable economic growth powered by AI.

The core vision of the OpenAI Academy is to democratize access to AI technologies and ensure that its benefits reach diverse communities worldwide. Many regions, particularly those with emerging technology sectors, have talented developers and organizations eager to address issues in sectors like healthcare, education, agriculture, and finance. However, limited access to advanced training and technical resources often hampers their potential. The Academy seeks to bridge this gap by providing essential support to local developers who understand the unique cultural and economic challenges of their environments....…....continue reading

🎼 MUSIC STREAMING

ByteDance to Shut Down TikTok Music Globally by November 2024

ByteDance has revealed that it will shut down TikTok Music, its global music streaming platform, by November 28, 2024. This decision comes after encountering a range of strategic hurdles, including difficulties in securing music catalogs from major record labels and a shift in focus from the company itself.

A notice on TikTok Music’s website reads, “We are sorry to inform you that TikTok Music will be closing on 28 November 2024.”

Initially launched in 2023 in regions like Brazil and Indonesia, and later expanded to countries such as Australia, Singapore, and Mexico, TikTok Music had some early success. However, ByteDance has ultimately decided to discontinue the service globally...…....continue reading

🤖 ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Meta Announces 2023 Llama Impact Grants and Innovation Award Winners

Meta has unveiled the recipients of its 2023 Llama Impact Grants and Llama Impact Innovation Awards, a program launched in October 2023 aimed at promoting innovative uses of Llama 2 and Llama 3 AI models to address critical social issues. With more than 800 submissions from organizations spanning 90 countries, the program focuses on harnessing Llama’s AI capabilities to tackle pressing challenges in education, environmental sustainability, and technology

Llama Impact Grants

Among the Llama Impact Grants recipients, Digital Green has emerged as one of the key winners, securing a $500,000 USD grant. In collaboration with One Acre Fund, Digital Green will develop a groundbreaking AI project, Farmer Chat, aimed at supporting small-scale farmers in underserved areas of Sub-Saharan Africa. The project will create a multilingual AI chatbot using Llama, which will be fine-tuned with vast agricultural data to deliver tailored, practical advice to farmers. The chatbot will be available in multiple languages, including Hindi, Swahili, and Kikuyu, making it accessible to a wide array of regions.........continue reading

📱TELECOMS

Safaricom Secures Additional KES 15 Billion Sustainability-Linked Loan, Pushing Total to KES 30 Billion

Safaricom has once again demonstrated its commitment to sustainability by securing a new KES 15 billion Sustainability-Linked Loan. This latest facility, which brings the total amount of sustainability-focused loans to KES 30 billion, follows the successful closure of a similar loan announced last year.

The loan, which is the largest of its kind in East Africa, will support Safaricom’s ambitious Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) goals. It has been backed by a consortium of leading financial institutions, including KCB, ABSA, Standard Chartered, and Stanbic. The funding is aimed at scaling up the company’s strategic sustainable investments, further integrating ESG principles into its core business operations.

“This deal helps to accelerate the advancement of our sustainability agenda. It is a testament that we have achieved the targets we set out to achieve with the first one, where we aligned our sustainability agenda with our financial strategy,” said Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa........continue reading

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