A new leader has emerged in Africa’s fintech innovation scene, as Black Swan, a startup from Mauritius, claimed the top spot at the 2025 MEST Africa Challenge. The announcement followed the competition’s grand finale hosted at Innovation City in Cape Town on November 26, 2025.
According to a statement released on Tuesday and cited by Technext, this year’s event centred on fintech companies delivering transformative solutions that expand financial inclusion. Ten finalists competed at the finale, each presenting practical, growth-ready products addressing real issues in payments, credit access, insurance, and trade finance.
By securing first place, Black Swan earned a $50,000 equity investment, inclusion in the MEST Portfolio, and the chance to collaborate with Absa business units to pilot commercial solutions across the continent.
Ashwin Ravichandran, Portfolio Advisor at MEST Africa, noted that fintech continues to influence multiple sectors—including agriculture, energy, and trade—by driving innovation at scale. He said this edition of MAC demonstrated a clear shift toward products designed for regional expansion and founders equipped for cross-border growth.
“At MEST, we’re encouraged to see founders creating solutions that are deeply grounded in local realities but capable of thriving globally. It signals a new level of maturity in African tech entrepreneurship,” he said.
The MEST Africa Challenge, organised by the Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology and supported by Absa Group, remains one of Africa’s most prominent early-stage startup competitions. Its mission is to highlight high-potential ventures and support them through their growth journey.
This year’s program drew hundreds of applications from Absa’s eight priority markets—Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles, Uganda, and Zambia. Absa Group Limited, a major South African-based financial institution, operates in 10 African countries and was formerly affiliated with Barclays Africa.
Following a thorough selection process, 20 startups progressed to the semifinals. Ten made it to the Cape Town finals, where they pitched before a panel of investors, Absa executives, and key industry experts.
Since 2008, MEST Africa has trained more than 2,000 entrepreneurs and invested in over 90 technology startups. The MEST Africa Challenge is its signature platform for identifying and scaling emerging tech companies across the continent.
About Black Swan
Black Swan, co-founded by Derick Kazimoto, focuses on expanding financial access by generating credit scores for unbanked populations using artificial intelligence and alternative data. The startup’s AI tools analyse non-traditional information—such as mobile-money receipts and utility-payment patterns—to evaluate creditworthiness for individuals and businesses lacking formal financial records.
Kazimoto explained that millions of African consumers and SMEs remain unrecognized by the formal financial system because their economic activity is largely invisible to traditional lenders.
“This lack of visibility shuts out capable borrowers, slows credit expansion, and limits economic progression. Our goal is to make Africa bankable. The shift from collateral-based lending to data-driven credit is reshaping the way financial institutions assess trust and risk,” he said.
The startup, previously known as Tausi before rebranding to Black Swan in April 2025, is working to convert scattered data points into reliable credit intelligence for Africa’s underserved markets.
