Taking place in Cape Town on Wednesday, November 26, 2025, the competition will see one startup walk away with a $50,000 equity investment and access to a global network of mentors and investors.

The announcement follows two days of rigorous semi-final pitches held on October 28 and 29, where young innovators from eight African countries showcased products bolstering financial technology across the continent. 

Ten startups stood out for their creativity, impact potential, and market readiness.

The finalists include:

1. mystocks.africa (Botswana);
2. Credify Africa Inc (Uganda);
3. Logistify AI (Kenya)
4. Kutana Technologies Ltd (Ghana);
5. Investa Farm (Kenya);
6. Black Swan (Mauritius);
7. Mighty Finance Solution Inc (Zambia);
8. Devdraft AI (Zambia);
9. Kanzu Finance Ltd (Uganda); and
10. Farmsky (Kenya).

According to Ashwin Ravichandran, Portfolio Advisor and MAC lead at MEST Africa, this year’s cohort represents a new phase of African innovation. “Each year, the Challenge grows not only in reach but in the depth of innovation it attracts. We’re seeing founders build financial systems that are inclusive, intelligent, and unmistakably African. The Top 10 exemplify the kind of purposeful innovation driving Africa’s next wave of growth.”

Now in its seventh year, the MEST Africa Challenge focuses on FinTech ventures and startups embedding financial solutions into technology systems. 

The 2025 edition covers eight of Absa’s nine priority markets, which include Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles, Uganda, and Zambia, targeting businesses that enhance financial inclusion and digital transformation.

For Absa, the partnership shows its drive to enhance banking through technology. “Our ambition is to reimagine financial services through technology, and the innovations presented by these FinTechs showcase what’s possible,” said Tamu Dutuma, head of Strategy and Transformation for Technology at Absa Regional Operations (ARO). 

“Many of the solutions are directly relevant to our business, with the potential to enhance customer experience, drive efficiency, and accelerate transformation. We’re excited about the opportunity to turn some of these ideas into meaningful partnerships that deliver value at scale.”

MEST Africa’s long-standing focus on entrepreneurship development has impacted the continent’s tech sector since 2008, having trained over 2,000 entrepreneurs and invested in more than 90 startups.

“What stands out in the Top 10 is how digital innovation is being applied to real market challenges,” said Tawanda Chatikobo, head of Digital – ARO RBB. “From AI-driven insights to seamless payments, these solutions demonstrate how technology can unlock access, efficiency, and financial inclusion. Digital solutions are no longer a luxury – they have become an imperative for the financial sector.”

The 2025 MEST Africa Challenge finale will support the organisation’s mission to enable scalable African ventures, helping them transform industries and drive inclusive growth across the continent.

Specialising in the commercial sector, she founded Vortex Design Solutions in 2015 and after 7 years, is flourishing in her industry. But her journey to get there hasn’t been easy.

Everything was going well until the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdowns struck, replacing Vortex’s busy schedule with an empty business calendar, literally overnight.

Like many new business owners, Raghmah had always avoided debt wherever possible. However, the sudden downturn left her with no option but to look for funding.

She initially turned to her long-standing bank but found the process to be surprisingly tedious and the terms of the overdraft that she eventually obtained unaffordable.

Dissatisfied with her experience, Raghmah began looking for another banking partner. That search led her to a Nedbank branch in Woodstock, Cape Town.

She says that she was instantly struck by how the environment in Nedbank was completely different from what she had experienced before; it was more welcoming, less rigid and infinitely more helpful.

More importantly, the Nedbank relationship banker immediately made her feel valued, understood the importance of her business, and showed that Nedbank was fully invested in helping her business succeed.

But what truly made her Nedbank experience extraordinary was the unexpected cherry on top: the relationship banker gave her his personal cellphone number, reassuring her that help was just a call away, day or night.

‘Such genuine client service and attention in banking is rare’, she says, ‘and I immediately knew that I had found the banking partner I needed to help me through the challenging period and support the growth of my business into the future.’

Raghmah’s experience taught her many valuable business lessons that she loves sharing with other business owners.

Choose a bank that’s also a business partner. Raghmah says her experience with her previous bank was heart-breaking. ‘They went from being a bank to being a debt collection agency’, she says, ‘and it made me realise how important it is for any business owner to find a bank that understands their business and its challenges and is ready to partner with them to solve those challenges. I’m very fortunate to have found that in Nedbank.’

Never underestimate the value of good service. ‘With my previous bank, I could never have hoped for the level of service I now get from Nedbank. They have repeatedly proven themselves to be a real business partner with a genuine concern for my business success. Knowing I have that trusted support from my bank has allowed me to act confidently on opportunities and grow my business exponentially.’

Look for comprehensive business mentorship. When she was facing challenges with her business, a colleague referred Raghmah to Raizcorp. She applied online for what she thought was R500 000 in financial support.

But when her application was successful, she realised that she wasn’t going to receive any money, but rather business incubation and mentorship services to the value of R500 000.

Despite her initial reservations, she decided to go ahead with the programme, and today she rates this as one of the best business decisions she’s ever made.

‘I was initially sceptical because I thought the Raizcorp programme was just another basic business skills learning platform; but they gave me so much practical guidance on how to put the ideas I have into practice, find ways to monetise them, and build the confidence to move forward and grow my business,’ she explains.

Make sure your bank is innovative, understands business and listens to you. ‘I’m always astounded that Nedbank, which has so many business clients that are so much bigger than Vortex, takes the time to find out what I need, listens to me, and comes up with innovative solutions to my challenges,’ Raghmah explains.

She points out that this level of engagement and willingness and ability to respond appropriately have been a lifeline for her business and a catalyst for its growth in the past 3 years.

Raghmah advises business owners that their business bank should be the rocket fuel that propels them upwards on a growth trajectory. ‘Once we had been through the Raizcorp incubation programme and we were ready to launch Vortex to new heights,’ she explains, ‘we could confidently go ahead knowing implicitly that Nedbank would always be there helping to drive us forward.’

She says that reliable banking support from Nedbank has been instrumental in her ability to grow Vortex from a small business that started with around R1 000 in seed capital in 2015, to a corporate business generating millions in revenue today.

‘My advice to aspiring business owners is always to make sure that you never fall into the trap of limiting yourself,’ Raghmah says, ‘and one of the best ways of avoiding limitations on your business potential is to have a bank that sees it not for what it is now, but what it could become in the future. For me, Nedbank is that bank.’