Black Swan, a Mauritius-based FinTech startup, has emerged as the winner of the MEST Africa Challenge (MAC) 2025. The announcement was made following a high-energy Grand Finale held at Innovation City in Cape Town on November 26, 2025.
Led by the Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology (MEST Africa) and powered by Absa Group, the challenge remains one of the continent’s premier pitch competitions for early-stage startups.
As the 2025 winner, Black Swan secures US $50,000 in equity investment and entry into the prestigious MEST Portfolio. significantly, the startup will also gain the opportunity to pilot commercial solutions with Absa business units across Africa, a strategic boost intended to scale their impact continent-wide.
Co-founded by Derick Kazimoto, Black Swan is driven by a mission to “Make Africa Bankable.” The startup addresses a critical gap in the African financial ecosystem: the lack of formal credit data for millions of consumers and Micro, Small, and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs).
Currently, fragmented and informal data renders many capable borrowers “invisible” to traditional lenders. Black Swan’s platform converts this fragmented data into instant credit intelligence, allowing financial institutions to assess risk accurately and offer inclusive lending at scale.
“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,” said Derick Kazimoto, Co-founder and CEO of Black Swan.
“This invisibility locks out capable borrowers, limits credit growth, and slows economic mobility. We believe Africa is shifting from informal, collateral-heavy lending to data-driven credit. A transformation that’s changing how banks and FinTechs trust, lend, and grow.”
The 2025 edition of the challenge focused specifically on FinTech, highlighting embedded financial solutions that drive digital transformation. The competition attracted hundreds of applications from Absa’s priority markets, including Ghana, Kenya, Uganda, Zambia, Botswana, Mozambique, Seychelles, and Mauritius.
After a rigorous selection process, ten finalists pitched to a panel of judges comprising investors, Absa executives, and industry leaders.
Ashwin Ravichandran, Portfolio Advisor at MEST Africa, noted a maturing trend in this year’s cohort.
“This year showed a clear shift toward building for scale; founders are prioritizing compliance, interoperability, and cross-border readiness from day one,” Ravichandran said. “FinTech is now powering real sectors like agriculture, energy, and trade, and that’s where lasting impact will come from.”
For Absa, the collaboration offers a lens into emerging technologies that can enhance their service offerings.
“Black Swan secured the winning position because their solution meets a clear need and shows potential to complement the services we provide across our markets,” said Tawanda Chatikobo, Head of Digital for Absa Regional Operations (ARO), Retail and Business Banking.
Tamu Dutuma, Head of Strategy and Transformation for Technology at ARO, praised the winner’s technical rigor: “What resonated with us was the technical discipline behind their approach: the architecture, the clarity of the build, and the way they’re thinking about scaling responsibly.”
Now in its seventh year, the MEST Africa Challenge continues to bridge the gap between agile startups and established corporate players. Since its inception in 2008, MEST Africa has trained over 2,000 entrepreneurs and invested in over 90 startups across the continent.
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