Absa and the Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology (MEST Africa) have unveiled the top 10 finalists for the MEST Africa Challenge (MAC) 2025, selecting the ventures after two days of intensive judging on October 28 and 29. The chosen startups represent some of the continent’s most dynamic early stage ventures poised to reshape digital financial services across eight African markets.
The finalists include mystocks.africa from Botswana, Credify Africa Inc from Uganda, Logistify AI from Kenya, Kutana Technologies Ltd from Ghana, Investa Farm from Kenya, Black Swan from Mauritius, Mighty Finance Solution Inc from Zambia, Devdraft AI from Zambia, Kanzu Finance Ltd from Uganda, and Farmsky from Kenya. These 10 ventures emerged from a highly competitive pool that initially included 20 semifinalists representing diverse solutions across financial technology and high value chain innovations.
Tamu Dutuma, Head of Strategy and Transformation for Technology at Absa Regional Operations (ARO), emphasized the alignment between the Challenge and Absa’s strategic vision. She stated that the bank’s ambition involves reimagining financial services through technology, and the innovations presented by these FinTech companies showcase what’s possible. Many of the solutions directly relate to Absa’s business, with potential to enhance customer experience, drive efficiency, and accelerate transformation.
Dutuma expressed excitement about opportunities to transform some of these ideas into meaningful partnerships delivering value at scale. The statement reflects Absa’s commitment to open collaboration within the FinTech ecosystem, viewing the challenge as more than a competition but rather as a pipeline for strategic innovation partnerships. This approach positions the bank as both evaluator and potential collaborator with emerging technology ventures.
The 2025 Challenge strengthened its presence across eight of Absa’s markets while sharpening focus on FinTech and high impact solutions designed to deepen financial inclusion. The participating markets include Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles, Uganda, and Zambia. All eight markets achieved representation in the top 10, demonstrating continent wide entrepreneurial talent distribution rather than concentration in traditional tech hubs.
Ashwin Ravichandran, Portfolio Advisor and MAC Lead at MEST Africa, reflected on the competition’s growth trajectory. He noted that each year the Challenge expands not only in reach but in the depth of innovation it attracts. The current crop of founders is building financial systems that are inclusive, intelligent, and unmistakably African. The top 10 exemplify purposeful innovation driving Africa’s next wave of economic growth.
Tawanda Chatikobo, Head of Digital for Absa Regional Operations (ARO), Retail and Business Banking, highlighted how digital innovation addresses real market challenges. From AI driven insights to seamless payments, these solutions demonstrate how technology can unlock access, efficiency, and financial inclusion. He emphasized that digital solutions have transformed from luxury to imperative for the financial sector, a shift accelerated by mobile penetration and changing consumer expectations.
The 10 finalists will advance to the grand finale on November 26, 2025 in Cape Town, South Africa, where one winning startup will receive a 50,000 dollar seed equity investment to accelerate growth. The winner also gains opportunity to collaborate with Absa on driving innovation, potentially piloting commercial solutions with various business units. Finalists receive full sponsorship for travel, housing, and transport for the final pitch day.
Chatikobo concluded that at Absa, every story matters, expressing pride in witnessing founders’ journeys and the impact they create. Each FinTech represents a unique vision for Africa’s future, making it inspiring to celebrate their achievements and acknowledge potential in every story. This narrative driven approach reflects how the challenge balances commercial objectives with social impact considerations.
The competition operates under the theme “You Build, We Scale,” encouraging founders to transform bold ideas into scalable financial solutions. This framing positions MEST Africa and Absa as enablers rather than gatekeepers, offering infrastructure, networks, and capital to promising ventures ready for expansion. The theme resonates with African tech ecosystem dynamics where many startups possess strong local solutions but lack resources for regional scaling.
MEST Africa was established in 2008 as the nonprofit arm of Meltwater, driving job creation and economic growth in Africa through software entrepreneurship. Headquartered in Accra, Ghana, the Foundation’s Entrepreneurial Support Organisation delivers full time, in person intensive tech entrepreneurship training to emerging talent from more than 22 African countries. The organization provides early stage investment to promising ventures while expanding reach through MESTx collaborative programs.
Since inception, the Meltwater Foundation has trained over 2,000 entrepreneurs and invested in more than 90 startups across the continent. These interventions fuel innovation, create jobs, and shape Africa’s next generation of tech entrepreneurs. The MEST Africa Challenge represents the organization’s flagship pan African pitch competition designed to identify, support, and scale high potential technology ventures.
The 2025 edition marks the seventh year of the competition, demonstrating sustained commitment to African tech ecosystem development. Each edition has refined selection criteria, expanded geographic reach, and strengthened partnerships with strategic players like Absa. The evolution reflects broader African tech maturation, with increasingly sophisticated solutions addressing complex market challenges rather than simple digital translations of existing services.
The shortlisted finalists address multiple themes central to African financial inclusion. Digital Financial Inclusion and Alternative Lending features prominently, with startups using nontraditional data to extend credit access. Seamless Digital Experiences focus on user interface improvements that lower barriers to financial service adoption. AI, Data and Fraud Prevention tackle security concerns that undermine digital transaction confidence.
Digital Payments solutions address Africa’s fragmented payment landscape where multiple systems coexist without interoperability. InsureTech innovations bring flexible, affordable coverage to populations traditionally excluded from insurance markets. These thematic clusters reflect persistent African market challenges where traditional financial institutions struggle to serve diverse customer segments profitably using conventional business models.
mystocks.africa from Botswana operates as a retail investing platform giving Africans access to stocks, Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), and alternative assets. The platform addresses investment democratization by lowering minimum investment thresholds and simplifying access processes. Credify Africa Inc from Uganda functions as a trade finance and logistics platform bridging Africa’s small and medium enterprise finance gap through innovative structuring approaches.
Logistify AI from Kenya delivers AI powered procurement and supply chain optimization, addressing inefficiencies that inflate costs for African businesses. Kutana Technologies Ltd from Ghana provides a multi currency business to business payment platform using stablecoins and AI driven credit assessments. The solution tackles cross border payment friction that constrains intra African trade despite continental free trade area agreements.
Investa Farm from Kenya operates as an Agri FinTech platform offering voucher backed loans for climate resilient agricultural inputs. The model addresses smallholder farmer financing challenges while promoting sustainable farming practices. Black Swan from Mauritius uses AI and alternative data to build credit scores for Africa’s unbanked population, creating pathways to formal financial services for millions currently excluded.
Mighty Finance Solution Inc from Zambia focuses on solutions addressing specific Zambian market needs within broader regional context. Devdraft AI, also from Zambia, demonstrates the country’s emerging tech capability alongside traditional copper mining economy. Kanzu Finance Ltd from Uganda provides digital banking solutions for Savings and Credit Cooperative Organizations, Village Savings and Loan Associations, and microfinance institutions, digitizing grassroots financial structures.
Farmsky from Kenya offers digital lending and crop insurance for smallholder farmers, combining credit access with risk mitigation through insurance bundling. The integrated approach addresses two farmer pain points simultaneously, potentially improving repayment rates while protecting agricultural livelihoods against climate shocks. The solution reflects growing recognition that African agriculture requires bundled services rather than standalone products.
Absa Group Limited operates as one of Africa’s largest diversified financial services groups, listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. The group offers integrated products and services across personal and business banking, corporate and investment banking, wealth and investment management, and insurance. Absa owns majority stakes in banks across Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia, with insurance operations in Kenya and South Africa.
The bank maintains offices in China, Namibia, Nigeria, and the United States, along with securities entities in the United Kingdom and United States and technology support colleagues in the Czech Republic. This geographic footprint provides MAC finalists potential access to multiple markets and expertise centers. The partnership with MEST Africa aligns with Absa’s stated purpose to make banking simpler, more accessible, and more relevant for customers.
The November 26 grand finale will feature live pitches to an audience of top investors, corporate leaders, and ecosystem stakeholders. The format creates visibility beyond the prize money, connecting finalists with potential investors, customers, and strategic partners. Previous MAC winners have successfully leveraged this exposure into follow on funding rounds and commercial partnerships that accelerated growth trajectories.
The competition structure balances rigor with support, requiring founders to articulate value propositions clearly while providing resources to strengthen presentations. Pitch readiness sessions prepare finalists for the high stakes presentation environment, acknowledging that many African founders excel at building solutions but may lack experience pitching to institutional audiences. This developmental approach distinguishes MAC from purely transactional competitions.
The focus on FinTech and value chain solutions reflects where African startups demonstrate strongest traction currently. Mobile money success across the continent validated digital financial services viability, creating foundation for more sophisticated solutions. The next wave addresses pain points mobile money didn’t solve, including credit, insurance, investments, and business to business transactions requiring more complex infrastructure.
Source: newsghana.com.gh
