Absa, in partnership with the Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology (MEST Africa), proudly announces Black Swan from Mauritius as the winner of the MEST Africa Challenge (MAC) 2025.
Launched in August 2025, this year’s Challenge attracted 828 leads and 313 applications across eight Absa markets. After progressing through the Top 20 and Top 10 stages, Black Swan has emerged as the overall winner.
The 2025 competition aligned closely with Absa’s innovation priorities, focusing on FinTech and strategic value-chain solutions that enhance financial inclusion and respond to evolving customer needs. Black Swan, an AI-driven company using alternative data to build credit scores for Africa’s unbanked population, stood out with a solution that demonstrates clear market relevance, solid product market fit, and strong potential to scale with meaningful impact and value.
“Congratulations to Black Swan. This year’s Challenge brought forward solutions that reflect how people and businesses want to manage their financial lives in a simpler, more accessible, and more integrated way. 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. The Challenge has revealed just how much opportunity exists to enhance customer experiences through thoughtful innovation,” says Tawanda Chatikobo, Head of Digital for Absa Regional Operations (ARO), Retail and Business Banking.
Across the continent, FinTech start-ups are tackling persistent challenges, from access to finance and digital payments, to supporting small businesses across largely informal economies. While their strength lies in deep local insight, many lack access to the scale, infrastructure, and institutional reach needed to grow.
Ashwin Ravichandran, Portfolio Advisor and MAC Lead at MEST Africa, added: “Congratulations to Black Swan and all ten finalists of this year’s MEST Africa Challenge. This year showed a clear shift toward building for scale; founders are prioritising compliance, interoperability, and cross-border readiness from day one. FinTech is now powering real sectors like agriculture, energy, and trade, and that’s where lasting impact will come from. At MEST, we’re inspired to see entrepreneurs building solutions that are deeply local yet globally adaptable. It reflects a new maturity in African innovation; grounded in customer realities, and ambitious enough to scale across borders.”
As the 2025 winner, Black Swan will receive a USD $50,000 seed equity investment to accelerate its growth, along with the opportunity to collaborate with Absa on potential pilots that drive innovation across the continent.
“Congratulations to Black Swan on reaching this milestone. 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. For us, the Challenge is about expanding Absa’s view of the technology landscape and identifying where new capabilities or partnerships might emerge. As we move into exploratory conversations and potential pilot work, we recognise that meaningful progress will come from blending enterprise-scale platforms with the speed and creativity of startups to unlock new pathways for innovation,” Tamu Dutuma, Head of Strategy and Transformation for Technology at Absa Regional Operations (ARO).
This year’s Challenge showcased diverse thinking and solutions. The finalists are actively building technology solutions aligned with Africa’s strategic digital evolution and global trends.
“The MEST Africa Challenge reflects our commitment to empowering Africa’s tomorrow together, one story at a time. By supporting founders with bold ideas and transformative solutions, we aim to build an ecosystem where innovation thrives and financial inclusion becomes a reality for many more across the continent,” concludes Dutuma.
