The MEST Africa Challenge 2025, held by MEST in collaboration with Absa for the first time this year, showcases the best of African fintech talent.
This year’s finalists are expanding access to finance in all its forms – from democratising investment to providing alternative data for credit scores.
Finalists navigate African market differences by designing adaptable digital platforms, working with local partners, and making collaboration a cornerstone of their platforms.

While attention on Africa abounds, news stories often focus on geopolitical developments or trade agreements – missing a crucial part of the story.

Behind the scenes, far from negotiating rooms and media gaggles, a quiet revolution is happening: Africa’s fintech scene is blossoming. While development institutions and economists go on about the $120 billion trade finance gap and the dangers of unequal access to banking, a new generation of young founders is getting to work fixing the problem.

The yearly MEST Africa Challenge (MAC), held by the Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology (MEST) and in collaboration with Absa for the first time this year, showcases the best of this growing innovation. On 26 November, ten early-stage startup founders from Absa’s eight key African markets in the fintech sphere will battle it out in Cape Town for the chance to win $50,000 in equity investment and access to potential collaboration and partnership opportunities with Absa across their African operations footprint.

The finalists, companies from all over Africa led by energetic young founders, are transforming finance in the continent, from simplifying trade financing for SMEs to using AI to expand finance access to underrepresented groups. Trade Finance Global (TFG) spoke to the judges and finalists to find out about what Africa’s fintech future holds, and why we might already be there.

Hear from the judges

**Tawanda Chatikobo**
**Head of Digital, Absa Regional Operations (ARO) – Retail and Business Banking**
“Fintech innovators are using digital tools to provide context-specific financial services to farmers, SMEs, and community-based finance groups across multiple countries.”

**Tamu Dutuma**
**Head of Strategy and Transformation, Technology – Absa Regional Operations**
“Finalists are not merely reacting to market trends, but are actively building solutions aligned with the continent’s strategic digital evolution.”

**Ashwin Ravichandran**
**Programs and Portfolio Advisor at MEST Africa**
“The best founders understand that Africa is not one market; it’s 54. What we’re seeing is a new level of sophistication in how they navigate that”

What is the single most important theme you’ve seen emerge at this year’s MAC, and how does it respond to a need from the market?

Tawanda Chatikobo (TC): A key theme is redefining financial access for African consumers.

A Mauritian-based Fintech, Black Swan, is using AI and alternative data, such as mobile wallet transactions, to enhance traditional credit scoring, giving Africans a way to build financial credibility without relying on conventional documentation.

Similarly, Mighty Finance in Zambia addresses the challenge SMEs and civil servants face when accessing loans without collateral or credit history, combining fast digital approvals with financial education and personalised support.

Tamu Dutuma (TD): One of the paramount themes this year is the urgent development of solutions that facilitate seamless trade and payment flow across African borders, using multi-jurisdictional finance infrastructure to solve for pan-African payment and logistics solutions.

Kutana Technologies Limited (Ghana) offers a multi-currency payment platform powering B2B cross-border trade, Devdraft Ai (Zambia) focuses on cross-border payments for freelancers and businesses using stablecoin wallets, and Credify Africa (Uganda) is designed as a trade finance and logistics platform specifically aimed at bridging Africa’s SME finance gap.

Ashwin Ravichandran (AR): We are increasingly seeing the adoption of global technologies for African purposes, such as digital asset solutions like blockchain and stablecoins.

How are you seeing the contestants deal with the differences in jurisdictions and markets across Africa?

TC: The finalists are approaching Africa’s diverse markets with digital platforms designed to meet local needs. To navigate jurisdictional differences, many contestants work with local partners and design compliance-ready systems that adapt to country-specific regulations.

What’s particularly promising is that this reflects a broader, continent-wide pattern: fintech innovators are using digital tools to provide context-specific financial services to farmers, SMEs, and community-based finance groups across multiple countries. By aligning their platforms with local conditions while building around replicable patterns, these companies demonstrate potential to scale thoughtfully across markets if they choose.

TD: Contestants are dealing with jurisdictional differences by designing solutions that inherently support pan-African scaling, whilst addressing challenges common to multiple priority markets and considering regulatory requirements across these different markets.

Several finalists are building platforms solving for Pan-African payment and logistics (trade and working capital), with a proactive approach to enabling multi-jurisdictional commerce.

Our challenge encouraged solutions that function as “Integration Orchestrators” or “Value-Add Service Layers,” such as middleware that stitches multiple partner services into a single API or solutions that are independent of core banking rails yet tightly linked to customer value. This focus suggests developing a flexible tech architecture capable of integrating with different regulatory or banking systems prevalent in various markets.

AR: What we’re seeing is a new level of sophistication in how founders navigate Africa’s many diverse markets. Many are building compliance into their products from day one, designing modular systems that can adapt to different regulatory frameworks and currencies.

Others are forming early partnerships with banks, telecommunications companies, and payment processors to accelerate cross-border readiness. It’s a very pragmatic, realistic approach, less about “one-size-fits-all” and more about maintaining a strong understanding of the customer locally.

Meet the contestants

Moses Liech, CEO of Investa Farm

What problem in the market does your company address?

Lack of access to collateral and quality input for women and youth farmers.

In one sentence, how does your startup fix that problem and advance the African fintech ecosystem?

We have built an IFarm token that acts as collateral for underserved groups and provides them with digital loan vouchers they can redeem across our partner stores for climate-resilient inputs.

What do you think is the most significant shift happening in the African finance or economic sector right now?

The rise of digital, asset-backed financial systems.

Across the continent, we’re seeing a major transition from traditional collateral models to technology-driven, alternative collateral frameworks. This shift is unlocking financing for youth and women, enabling farmers to access credit without physical collateral, and allowing micro-businesses to plug into formal markets at scale.

Daniel Kagame Ndahiro, CEO of Credify Africa, Inc

What problem in the market does your company address?

Most SMEs can’t access affordable trade finance, struggle with reliable supplier payments, and face limited visibility across the shipping and customs process. This leads to delayed shipments, stock-outs, and slow business growth.

In one sentence, how does your startup fix that problem and advance the African fintech ecosystem?

Credify fixes this gap by providing end-to-end, collateral-backed trade finance and logistics support – financing SMEs’ imports, paying suppliers directly, managing consolidation and warehousing in China, and handling customs and last-mile delivery.

This way, importers get the capital, reliability, and transparency they need to trade with confidence and scale consistently, gaining a modern gateway into cross-border commerce across Africa.

What do you think is the most significant shift happening in the African finance or economic sector right now?

Across the continent, technology is reshaping how people and businesses access credit, move money, and interact with financial services.

Mobile-first payments, digital identity, alternative data, and real-time transaction rails are creating a system that is more transparent, more connected, and better aligned with how Africans actually live and trade. This shift is widening access, lowering costs, and enabling a new wave of fintech innovation and economic participation.

Humphrey Kebaya, CEO of mystocks.africa

What problem in the market does your company address?

Africa’s stock markets are fragmented and siloed, making it difficult for everyday investors to access opportunities, compare markets, build diversified portfolios, or engage with capital markets in a simple and transparent manner.

In one sentence, how does your startup fix that problem and advance the African fintech ecosystem?

Mystocks.africa provides a unified investment gateway that connects fragmented markets, delivers clear insights, and enables retail investors to participate across the continent through a single, intuitive platform.

What do you think is the most significant shift happening in the African finance or economic sector right now?

The consolidation of digital investment infrastructure that is gradually linking banks, brokers, exchanges and mobile money into more open and interoperable systems.

Bonface Nyalwal, CEO of Farmsky Ventures

What problem in the market does your company address?

Africa’s agricultural sector is currently suffering from a $170 billion financing gap. This is due to the high cost of lending to smallholder farmers, accompanied by higher default risks that arise from a lack of credit data, low input quality leading to poor yields, unpredictable cash flows, and climate-related risks without adequate insurance.

In one sentence, how does your startup fix that problem and advance the African fintech ecosystem?

Farmsky Ventures provides an AI-powered end-to-end lending infrastructure that connects lenders, input providers, crop insurers, and buyers, allowing for smarter underwriting, controlled disbursement, and structured repayment, cutting the cost and time of lending to smallholder farmers by 60% while maintaining higher-than-average repayment rates.

What do you think is the most significant shift happening in the African finance or economic sector right now?

With growing use of mobile money, better internet connectivity, and AI advancements, the most significant shift is towards embedded, data-driven and decentralised financial infrastructure that allows larger populations to access most previously inaccessible products and services.

Derick Kazimoto, CEO of Black Swan

What problem in the market does your company address?

Africa’s financial system cannot see the true creditworthiness of millions of consumers and MSMEs because their data is fragmented, informal, and invisible to traditional lenders. This invisibility locks out capable borrowers, limits credit growth, and slows economic mobility.

In one sentence, how does your startup fix that problem and advance the African fintech ecosystem?

Black Swan turns fragmented data into instant credit intelligence that enables precise affordability and inclusive lending at scale.

What do you think is the most significant shift happening in the African finance or economic sector right now?

Africa is moving from informal and collateral-heavy lending to data-led credit, where alternative data finally reveals real risk. This shift is transforming how banks and fintechs trust, lend, and grow.

Vwanganji Bowa, CEO of Mighty Fin

What problem in the market does your company address?

Many African SMEs are underserved, struggling to access fast, affordable, and contextual credit to keep their businesses running and growing.

In one sentence, how does your startup fix that problem and advance the African fintech ecosystem?

Mighty Fin solves this liquidity gap and delivers embedded, instant, data-driven micro-credit directly inside the digital and USSD channels that SMEs already use – expanding financial inclusion and powering real-time commerce across Africa.

What do you think is the most significant shift happening in the African finance or economic sector right now?

The most significant shift is the move toward real-time, data-led financial services—where alternative data, embedded finance, and mobile-first infrastructure are replacing traditional banking as the primary engine of SME growth.

Samuel Opoku, COO of Kutana Technologies Limited

What problem in the market does your company address?

Over 48 million African SMEs struggle to engage in global trade. By relying on traditional financial systems, SMEs face transaction fees of up to 12%, long payment processing times of over six weeks in some cases, and persistent fraud risks, on top of the challenge of navigating Africa’s 40+ different currencies.

In one sentence, how does your startup fix that problem and advance the African fintech ecosystem?

Kutana is Africa’s first B2B digital trade bank, providing SMEs with multi-currency digital wallets backed by a stablecoin treasury for faster settlements, insurance-embedded escrow systems, fraud reporting and trade finance systems to make trade safe, easy, and cost-effective.

What do you think is the most significant shift happening in the African finance or economic sector right now?

Even though most transactions are still dominated by cash, there is a significant shift towards digital payments and marketplaces, with digital and online payments gaining momentum across African commerce.

Salifyanji J Namwila, Co-Founder and CEO of Devdraft

What problem in the market does your company address?

Remote workers and businesses in emerging markets can’t access USD or EUR bank accounts, making it nearly impossible to operate as locals in US and European markets.

The existing alternatives charge 2-4% in fees and take days to settle, forcing talented people to turn down international opportunities or lose significant portions of their income just to access their own money.

In one sentence, how does your startup fix that problem and advance the African fintech ecosystem?

Devdraft gives remote workers and businesses USD and EUR bank accounts built on stablecoin infrastructure, enabling them to operate as locals in US and European markets at a less than 1% transaction cost.

What do you think is the most significant shift happening in the African finance or economic sector right now?

There’s an industrial revolution happening right now. From how we interact with computers to how finance is built, everything is changing.

The notion of borders is becoming imaginary, and that’s rewriting how people access opportunities like remote work and global markets. We’re climbing a technological gradient unlike anything before. It’s a new era in every respect.

Peter Kakoma, CEO of Kanzu Finance Limited

What problem in the market does your company address?

Many savings and credit cooperative organisations, village savings and loan associations, and microfinance institutions in Africa operate using fragmented, manual, and outdated systems, limiting financial inclusion and operational efficiency.

This infrastructure gap prevents underserved communities from accessing reliable, modern financial services, leaving nearly half of adults without formal accounts.

In one sentence, how does your startup fix that problem and advance the African fintech ecosystem?

Kanzu Finance provides a digital, interoperable core banking platform that modernises these institutions, streamlines operations, and drives scalable financial inclusion across the African fintech ecosystem.

What do you think is the most significant shift happening in the African finance or economic sector right now?

Open payment systems are transforming how individuals, businesses, and institutions transact, creating opportunities for inclusive economic growth and cross-border interoperability.

Daniel Emaasit, CEO of Logistify AI

What problem in the market does your company address?

Commodity traders in Africa lack the capital to fulfil large orders from international buyers.

In one sentence, how does your startup fix that problem and advance the African fintech ecosystem?

We leverage data and technology to extend accounts payable financing so that they can fulfil these orders.

What do you think is the most significant shift happening in the African finance or economic sector right now?

The availability of international trade data that enables alternative forms of risk assessment.

Where we’re going next

We asked judges what they thought would be the most exciting development in the African fintech sphere in the next few years, as seen through the eyes of this year’s MEC. Here’s what they said:

Tawanda Chatikobo: Digital and mobile lending solutions

Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) and other digital lending solutions are expanding rapidly, with AI and alternative data being used to assess credit risk more effectively, opening access to credit for more people.

Mobile-first solutions, such as digital wallets and mobile banking, are also growing, particularly in regions with limited traditional banking infrastructure, and enabling new use cases like merchant payments, micro-savings, and instant remittances.

Tamu Dutuma: Democratised investment and alternative credit

AI-powered trust and alternative credit access are important emerging trends, empowering smart credit and alt-lending (using non-traditional data for scoring, instant credit decisions). This is where fraud detection and trust tech become key with AI proliferation.

Embedded finance and modular solutions, as well as democratised investment and savings, are evident themes, mostly powered by third-party solutions, insurance add-ons, and loyalty perks, delivered through open APIs. We are also seeing increased marketplaces for traditional and alternative assets, including digital assets.

Ashwin Ravichandran: Fintech integration and collaboration

Over the next few years, we’ll see fintech blend deeply with adjacent sectors, from embedded finance in agriculture and energy, to insuretech solutions that protect micro and small enterprises. The lines between fintech and other industries are blurring, and that’s a good thing. The finalists this year reflect that shift: they’re building platforms that integrate payments, lending, and data to unlock access to credit, insurance, and trade at scale.

We’re also going to see greater collaboration between corporates and startups. Banks like Absa are increasingly opening up their digital rails for innovators to plug in. This collaborative model, where startups bring agility and corporates bring scale, is what will define the next chapter of Africa’s fintech evolution.

When asked to describe Africa’s future in one word, finalists were just as optimistic, highlighting the continent’s vast potential in the years to come: