The seventh edition of the MEST Africa Challenge (MAC 2025) has announced its Top 10 finalists, along with a bold statement about African entrepreneurship, technology and capital formation. Across eight markets, startups are now on a fast track to redefine what digital finance means on the continent.
The shortlist represents a mixture of platforms tackling payments, credit, investment and agriculture-linked finance not as niche experiments, but as commercially scalable solutions rooted in African realities. A key partner in this journey is Absa Group, which has aligned its innovation priorities with MAC’s thematic focus of fintech and value-chain solutions.
Fintech remains the largest single segment of African venture investment, capturing over 40 % of all startup funding on the continent in early 2025. With MAC shifting from region-first to sector-first, the message is clear, Africa’s next wave will be about depth and scale not just novelty.
The finalists will present in Cape Town on 26 November for the grand finale, where equity funding of US $50 000 is on the line along with access to MEST’s ecosystem and potential commercial pilots with Absa units.
Finalists to watch
Here are the ten ventures now in the spotlight:
- mystocks.africa (Botswana) – A retail investing platform giving Africans access to stocks, ETFs and alternative assets.
- Credify Ai (Uganda) – Addressing the SME trade-finance gap through digital credit and data-driven underwriting.
- Kanzu Finance Ltd (Uganda) – Digitising SACCOs and microfinance institutions to advance financial inclusion.
- Logistify AI (Kenya) – Applying AI to SME procurement, logistics and supply-chain cost-control.
- Investa Farm (Kenya) – Voucher-backed loans for climate-resilient inputs, linking agritech and finance.
- Farmsky Ventures (Kenya) – Digital lending and crop insurance for smallholders in a climate-stress era.
- Kutana Technologies Ltd (Ghana) – Multi-currency B2B payments powered by AI and stablecoins, bridging UK-Africa trade.
- Black Swan (Mauritius) – Uses alternative data and AI to build credit scores for previously unbanked Africans.
- Mighty Finance Solution Inc (Zambia) – Embedding loans for women-led businesses into salary-linked frameworks.
- Devdraft AI (Zambia) – Simplifying cross-border payments with stablecoins and remote-worker banking rails.
Together, these start-ups tell a story of pragmatic innovation connecting global finance to African markets (Kutana, Devdraft), embedding credit where formal tracking is absent (Black Swan, Credify) and monetising previously underserved segments (Mighty Finance, Kanzu).
They also reflect the thematic focus laid out by MEST for MAC 2025 that is smart credit, fraud/trust tech, cross-border finance and investment gateways.
This competition matters not only as a pitch event, but as a bellwether for where African fintech is headed. For founders, it is an incentive to build solutions that are relevant locally, yet globally competitive. For investors, it signals that a high-growth opportunity lies in platforms that marry domain expertise (finance + tech) with scalable infrastructure
Next steps
Finalists will assemble in Cape Town in late November and pitch live. The winner will walk away not only with funding but a launchpad, access to MEST’s broader network, mentorship, pilot pathways with Absa and credibility as one of Africa’s emerging fintech leaders.
Africa’s fintech story is gaining volume and clarity. The Top 10 of MAC 2025 are not isolated ideas, but early movers building platforms that matter. If they execute, they could redefine how capital, credit and commerce flow across the continent.
