A major milestone has been recorded in Africa’s growing fintech landscape as Black Swan, an emerging startup from Mauritius, has taken first place at the 2025 MEST Africa Challenge, one of the continent’s most competitive platforms for early-stage tech innovators. The company’s win was announced during the grand finale held at Innovation City, Cape Town, on November 26, 2025, solidifying its position as a rising force in financial-technology advancement.
According to a statement reported on Tuesday by Technext, this year’s challenge placed a strong focus on fintech solutions pushing financial inclusion across Africa. The finals featured ten standout startups, each showcasing innovative, scalable products targeting real-world issues such as digital payments, credit scoring, insurance access, and trade-finance efficiency. After a competitive pitch session, Black Swan emerged as the overall winner.
With this victory, the Mauritius-based startup has secured a $50,000 equity investment, a place within the prestigious MEST Portfolio, and an opportunity to work closely with Absa’s various business units to test, refine, and potentially deploy fintech solutions across multiple African markets.
Ashwin Ravichandran, Portfolio Advisor at MEST Africa, emphasised that fintech continues to reshape entire industries—from energy to agriculture—by enabling smarter, scalable systems. He noted that this year’s pitches showed a clear shift toward tech products designed for expansion across borders, backed by founders who understand both local challenges and regional growth potential.
He stated, “We’re excited to see African founders creating solutions deeply rooted in their communities, yet bold enough to compete on a global stage. It reflects a new level of maturity in the continent’s tech ecosystem.”
The MEST Africa Challenge, organised by the Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology (MEST) and supported by Absa Group, remains one of Africa’s most influential competitions for early-stage companies. Hundreds of startups applied from Absa’s eight priority countries—Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles, Uganda, and Zambia. From this pool, 20 startups reached the semifinals, and 10 advanced to Cape Town for the final presentation before investors, Absa executives, and veteran industry leaders.
Since its inception in 2008, MEST Africa has trained more than 2,000 entrepreneurs and invested in over 90 tech startups, making the annual challenge a key pipeline for identifying promising ventures.
About Black Swan
Black Swan, co-founded by Derick Kazimoto, is committed to making credit access more inclusive by generating credit scores for people who have no formal financial history. The company leverages artificial intelligence and alternative data, analysing factors such as utility-bill patterns, mobile-money receipts, and transaction habits. These insights help lenders evaluate borrowers who would otherwise remain invisible to traditional financial systems.
Kazimoto highlighted that millions of Africans—both individuals and SMEs—remain excluded because their economic activity is not recorded in conventional banking structures. He explained that this lack of visibility slows economic growth, restricts lending opportunities, and leaves many capable borrowers without access to financial support.
He added, “Our goal is simple—to make Africa bankable. Data-driven credit scoring is transforming how institutions understand trust, risk, and financial potential.”
Formerly known as Tausi, the company rebranded to Black Swan in April 2025 as part of its mission to build a stronger identity while expanding its solutions across underserved African markets.
