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Black Swan, a FinTech startup based in Mauritius, has been declared the winner of the MEST Africa Challenge (MAC) 2025, following an exciting Grand Finale held at Innovation City, Cape Town.
Sponsored by the Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology (MEST Africa) and supported by Absa Group, the MEST Africa Challenge stands out as one of the foremost Pan-African pitch competitions on the continent. It is offering early-stage startups a chance to obtain funding, mentorship, and global exposure.
The 2025 edition highlighted FinTech, emphasising startups and embedded financial solutions that promote inclusion, enhance payments, and facilitate digital transformation in Africa’s economies.
Conception of Black Swan
Black Swan was co-founded by Derick Kazimoto, Black Swan aims to “Make Africa Bankable.” Throughout Africa, countless consumers and MSMEs are overlooked by formal lenders due to their data being fragmented, informal, and hard to verify. This disparity impacts both borrowers and lenders, restricting credit expansion. Black Swan addresses this issue by transforming fragmented data into a cohesive credit rating report, enabling accurate processing on a large scale. Its platform enables financial institutions to verify risk with regards to borrowing. This opens new opportunities for growth and economic advancement throughout the continent.
“African financial systems are unable to assess the actual creditworthiness of countless consumers and Micro, Small, and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs). This is due to the fragmentation, informality, and invisibility of their data to conventional lenders,” stated Derick Kazimoto, Co-founder and CEO of Black Swan. “This lack of information on credit rating shuts out qualified borrowers, restricts credit expansion, and hampers economic development.” “Our goal is to make Africa financially viable.” Kazimoto stated, “We think Africa is transitioning from informal, collateral-dependent lending to credit based on data.” This shift alters the ways banks and FinTechs build trust, provide loans, and expand their operations.
MAC 2025 received numerous applications from eight key markets, including those of Absa, which comprise Ghana, Kenya, Uganda, Zambia, Botswana, Mozambique, Seychelles, and Mauritius. Following an intensive selection procedure, ten startups advanced to the Cape Town finale. There, they presented to a panel of judges comprising investors, Absa executives, and industry experts.
Why Credit Rating Matters
A credit rating is a financial report prepared by credit analysts to assess the credit risk, that is, the ability of the subject of the report to meet its financial obligations on a timely basis. Credit ratings are used across different sectors, however it is particularly important in the banking or insurance sectors. It indicates the likelihood of a bank running into serious financial difficulty where it would require support, and whether it would get external support in such an event.
Individuals or companies with the lowest credit ratings carry the highest level of risk of default by the borrower.
Image source: 123rf.com
An Exhibition of Africa’s Creativity
The Grand Finale celebrated Africa’s creativity, as founders presented viable, scalable solutions addressing issues in payments, credit, insurance, and trade finance.
“Bravo to Black Swan and all ten contenders in this year’s MEST Africa Challenge,” stated Ashwin Ravichandran, Portfolio Advisor at MEST Africa.
This year’s challenge focused greatly on scaling, global compliance, interoperability, and readiness for cross-border operations from the outset. Black Swan is currently driving real industries such as agriculture, energy, and trade.
MEST is impressed by entrepreneurs who are creating solutions that are culturally relevant while being globally applicable. It demonstrates a new level of maturity in African innovation, rooted in customer needs and bold enough to expand internationally.
As the 2025 champion, Black Swan will receive US$50,000 in equity funding, inclusion in the MEST Portfolio. Also, they will get the opportunity to test commercial solutions with Absa business units throughout Africa. This help will enable the company to expand its technology and broaden its influence across the continent.
“This year’s Challenge presented solutions that demonstrate how individuals and companies improve the handling of their financial operations in a more straightforward, accessible, and cohesive manner.” “Black Swan attained the winning position since their solution addresses a distinct need and demonstrates the potential to enhance the services we offer in our markets. “The Challenge has shown the significant opportunities available to improve customer experiences through careful innovation,” states Tawanda Chatikobo, Head of Digital for Absa Regional Operations (ARO), Retail and Business Banking.
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MEST Africa Challenge
Entering its seventh year, the MEST Africa Challenge serves as a springboard for emerging founders across the continent. It is providing exposure, guidance, and connections to partners that can support their development. The Challenge remains a link between new startups and established industry leaders, merging the nimbleness of innovation with the breadth of corporate partnership. Also, it aims to broaden Absa’s perspective on the technology landscape and pinpoint potential new capabilities or partnerships that could arise.
Image source: ITWeb Africa
“Congratulations to Blackswan for achieving this milestone.” What struck us was the technical rigour in their methodology, particularly their design and creativity. Also, their perspective on scaling sustainably was impressive,” stated Tamu Dutuma, Head of Strategy and Transformation for Technology at Absa Regional Operations (ARO).
Since 2008, MEST Africa has mentored and supported over 2,000 entrepreneurs and funded more than 90 startups. The MEST Africa Challenge (MAC) is its premier pan-African pitch contest aimed at discovering and aiding high-potential tech startups.
About MEST Africa:
Founded in 2008 as the charitable branch of Meltwater, the Meltwater Foundation promotes job creation and economic development in Africa through software entrepreneurship. Based in Accra, Ghana, the Foundation’s Entrepreneurial Support Organisation, MEST Africa, offers a rigorous, full-time, in-person training program in tech entrepreneurship for rising talent from over 22 African nations and gives initial investments to promising startups. To broaden its influence, the Foundation introduced MESTx, a series of cooperative initiatives developed and executed in collaboration with similar partners to enhance digital skills training and startup acceleration throughout the continent. Since its launch, the Meltwater Foundation has educated over 2,000 entrepreneurs and funded more than 90 startups across the continent. Its efforts have driven up innovation, generated employment, and nurtured Africa’s emerging cohort of tech entrepreneurs.
