The competition recognises some of the continent’s most innovative startups in financial technology and other high-impact solutions that address Africa’s financial sector.

Now in its seventh edition, the challenge centres on the theme, “You Build, We Scale,” and seeks to empower founders ensuring access to finance across Absa’s eight key markets which include Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles, Uganda, and Zambia.

The selected startups are developing solutions that cut across payments, credit access, cross-border trade, agri-fintech, and financial literacy, all aimed at rethinking how money moves and works for Africans.

Ashwin Ravichandran, portfolio advisor at MEST Africa and MAC Lead, described the semi-finalists as visionary entrepreneurs whose ideas merge technology with community-focused problem-solving. 

“Each of these founders represents a unique path toward reimagining how finance works for Africans,” he said. “Their ideas pair technology with empathy, proving that lasting change comes from solving real problems within their own communities. We’re proud to provide a platform that connects them with investors, mentors, and global opportunities.”

Absa’s collaboration with MEST emphasises its focus on driving digital inclusion and innovation across Africa’s financial ecosystem. 

Speaking on the announcement, Tawanda Chatikobo, head of Digital for Absa Regional Operations (ARO), Retail and Business Banking, said: “Congratulations to the top 20 finalists and to all applicants. The quality of submissions has been exceptional, showcasing the depth of innovation and entrepreneurial drive across Africa. These startups are not only solving real challenges; they’re building the foundation for inclusive growth and lasting impact. 

“Our partnership with MEST and our active participation in the MEST Africa Challenge 2025 reflect our commitment to open collaboration within the FinTech ecosystem. At Absa, we see ourselves as partners in this journey, guided by a purpose to make banking simpler, more accessible, and more relevant for our customers.”

The 20 startups, selected from hundreds of applications, include:

Botswana:

• mystock.africa – A retail investing platform offering Africans access to stocks, ETFs, and alternative assets.

Ghana:

• Brydge – Simplifying cross-border trade for African businesses.
• Kutana Technologies Limited – Enabling B2B payments and trade using stablecoins and AI-powered credit scoring.

Kenya:

• Logistify AI – Optimising procurement and supply chains for SMEs and cooperatives.
• Farmsky Ventures – Providing digital lending and crop insurance for smallholder farmers.
• Investa Farm – Offering voucher-backed loans for climate-resilient farm inputs.

Mauritius:

• Black Swan – Building credit scores for Africa’s unbanked using AI and alternative data.

Mozambique:

• Simulador Bancário – A platform for financial planning and loan simulations.

Uganda:

• Paytota – Simplifying fragmented digital payments through a unified payment gateway.
• Xzerra – Facilitating cashless transactions with biometric fingerprint technology.
• Kanzu Finance Limited – Providing digital banking solutions for cooperatives and microfinance institutions.
• Axiom Zorn – Enabling smallholder farmers’ access to finance and markets through data innovation.
• Credify Africa, Inc. – Bridging Africa’s SME finance gap with trade finance and logistics solutions.
• eMaisha Pay – Promoting financial inclusion for agro-traders and small businesses.

Zambia:

• Ebusaka Green Technology Limited – Turning waste to value through digitised recycling incentives.
• KreativBox Technology – Offering salary-backed loans to civil servants.
• Mighty Finance Solution Inc – Providing embedded digital loans for SMEs and women entrepreneurs.
• Devdraft AI – Supporting freelancers with cross-border payments using stablecoin wallets.
• Homer Price Agency Solutions Limited – Operating a digital banking network of over 550 agents nationwide.

Seychelles:

• Fusepay – A licensed Payment Service Provider building a digital finance hub for frontier markets.

The semi-finalists will present their pitches virtually in the week of October 27, 2025. Only 10 startups will proceed to the final round in Cape Town, South Africa, scheduled for 26 November 2025. 

The overall winner will secure a $50,000 equity investment, gain access to MEST Africa’s global mentorship network, and explore pilot opportunities with Absa’s business divisions.

Tamu Dutuma, head of Strategy and Transformation for ARO Technology, said the competition unearths ideas capable of accelerating digital transformation across the continent. 

“Through this challenge, we’re seeing solutions that are not only innovative but strategically aligned with Africa’s evolving technology landscape. Some of these ideas have the potential to accelerate digital transformation and unlock new value for our customers,” she said.

Since its founding in 2008, MEST Africa has supported more than 2,000 entrepreneurs and invested in over 90 startups. The MEST Africa Challenge is a key platform for identifying, nurturing, and scaling promising technology-driven ventures that are building Africa’s economy sustainably.

The investment will enhance Yango’s support for innovative African startups that are solving local financing challenges and enabling sustainable business growth.

Beyond financial backing, Yango Group will work closely with Zanifu to strengthen its business structure and long-term expansion plans, drawing on its operational experience across more than 30 markets. 

The partnership stresses Yango’s belief that empowering SMEs is essential to driving inclusive economic growth across the continent.

Zanifu has already supported over 15,000 SMEs, offering embedded lending solutions that help small businesses access inventory finance, manage cash flow, and scale operations without relying on traditional collateral.

“Zanifu is working on exactly what we care about, building tools that help other businesses grow. By giving thousands of SMEs real access to capital, the team is enabling them to expand and succeed. We’re excited to bring our experience and expertise to help scale a business that’s delivering real impact to local communities,” said Daniil Shuleyko, CEO of Yango Group.

The investment was made through Yango Ventures, a corporate venture arm launched earlier this year with a focus on early-stage startups across Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East. 

The fund targets high-growth sectors such as fintech, B2B SaaS, and on-demand services, offering startups both funding and access to Yango’s global expertise, network, and strategic guidance.

A deal with Zanifu results from Yango Group’s trust in Africa’s innovation ecosystem, ensuring growth for small businesses. This also opens a new chapter of scale and expansion across some of the continent’s most promising markets.

That’s like trying to fly a plane with the wings bought in Ghana, the engine in Nigeria, and the fuel tanks left somewhere in Morocco. It’s a miracle the thing doesn’t fall out of the sky before take-off.

But then, these inefficiencies are expensive. With Africa operating with 41 active currencies, cross-border payments that still take two to five days, and fees that can hit 3–10%, businesses waste cash and time they can’t afford to lose. 

In a phase where African fintech revenues are projected to hit $30 billion by 2025, the majority of that story has been about consumers sending money home, not enterprises figuring out how to scale sustainably.

That’s the problem Bujeti has stepped into—a financial operating system that dares to stitch together the continent’s fragmented finance. “I usually use the analogy of buying cheap shoes,” says Cossi Achille Arouko, co-founder and CEO of Bujeti. “You can buy ten cheap shoes for 1,000 Naira each, and they will not last. Or you spend N10,000 on one good pair that lasts for years. It’s the same mentality we are applying to finance.”

A Rare YC Bet in Africa

Bujeti’s journey is unusual. When Y Combinator scaled back its African exposure between 2023 and 2024, pulling back from the flood of consumer-facing apps that had defined its bets—it still picked Bujeti. That was rare air. Out of more than 5,200 African startups (nearly half in fintech), only a handful convinced YC they had the DNA to survive.

Arouko believes his own background played a role. Before founding Bujeti, he worked at Paystack, one of Africa’s biggest fintech success stories. “We applied before in 2017 with my former co-founder,” he recalls. “We actually got interviewed by Michael [Seibel] himself. I guess having prior interaction with them, working at one of their most successful stories, having the backing and the track record that goes with it… it just made sense. But again, you don’t really know what makes them choose you. The only thing you know is they believe you can do it. And obviously a bit of craziness to try to do something like this in Africa.”

From Consumer Payments to Enterprise Finance

If Africa’s first fintech wave was about consumers, think mobile money, wallets, and peer-to-peer transfers, the next wave may well belong to enterprise. B2B fintech, including spend management, payroll, and cross-border finance, is now growing at 13–15% annually in markets like Nigeria, Ghana, and Egypt.

Bujeti started as a B2C idea, but quickly pivoted. “When I was pitching this to some friends back in Lagos, some of them just said, ‘Yeah, this is nice, but my company actually needs this,’” Arouko explains. “We looked around and realised there is nobody really trying to solve these problems for African businesses. So we over-rely on solutions from outside of the continent, and pay for those solutions even though they don’t fit our realities. That creates fragmentation.”

What Bujeti is building is closer to a fractional CFO in your pocket: one platform where payroll, spend management, taxes, compliance, and cross-border payments live side by side.

AI as Co-Pilot

The buzzword here is AI—but for Bujeti, it’s not hype. It’s practical. “We want to bring that fractional CFO into your palm or on your computer,” Arouko says. “By default, you will have a virtual finance team that will take care of everything you need to do. One might take care of your taxes, one your accounting, one your payments—all working in synergy.”

He gives an interesting example: “Imagine you want to make a payment to someone you’ve never paid before, or you don’t know their record. As soon as you want to make that payment, the AI will tell you: this company is a fraudster, or this transaction puts you at risk. Or imagine your vendor reduced prices two weeks ago, and you didn’t notice. The AI will tell you to call them to negotiate. That’s money saved instantly.”

It’s not about replacing accountants, he stresses, but about equipping companies too small to hire ten people with a virtual team they can afford.

Building Beyond Borders

Cross-border finance is another big headache. African companies dream regional, but their finance systems remain stubbornly local. Here Bujeti’s international DNA may give it an edge. Arouko is from Benin Republic, co-founder Samy Chiba from Morocco and France. 

“For me as an engineer, the product is built. The only difference from region to region is currency and regulation,” Arouko says. “So any business that uses Bujeti in Nigeria can deploy it in Côte d’Ivoire or Ghana. Every person in those countries will use the same software. If the boss clicks ‘A’ in Lagos, it’s ‘A’ in Accra. No calls, no shouting. It’s already there.”

Why Competitors Can’t Just Copy

The fintech space is crowded. But Bujeti’s moat, Chiba argues, lies in focus. “Automating business processes is the next big move,” he says. “Nothing prevents others from trying, but the most important thing is to understand business needs and position yourself in the value chain. Banks should be focused on moving money. We build on top of that. Trying to do everything is not the way.”

This emphasis on collaboration over competition is unusual in a market where startups usually fight for the same ground.

The Hardest Lesson

But if there’s one surprise the founders faced, it was how resistant people are to change. “You might have the best idea, but people still resist it,” Arouko admits. “Some saw us as a neobank. Asking them to pay to use Bujeti was a no. That’s why we started Bujeti Academy—to teach people what it means to manage your business the right way. In Africa, you can’t just charge from day one. You have to show value first.”

The Future They See

Project forward 10 years and the vision is commendable and resilient. “I want it to be possible for any young kid in Africa to say, I want to start a business, and everything they need—payments, taxes, payroll, budget, compliance—is already on one platform,” Arouko says. “All they should worry about is growth.”

Chiba explained that bigger picture further: “Our mission is not just about financial management. It’s about growth. If companies can grow, their regions can grow, and the whole continent can grow. Where you see frictions, you lose money, time, opportunities. Our role is to remove those frictions.”

In that vision, Bujeti could do for African enterprises what mobile money once did for consumers, bringing forth an economic wave. And if the statistics hold, it won’t just be about one startup’s success, but about bolstering how Africa’s $30 billion fintech narrative gets written in the years ahead.

This appointment comes on the heels of Wave’s recent $137 million debt funding round aimed at scaling its operations in both new and existing markets. 

Having recently entered the Cameroonian market, Wave is positioning itself to compete for market share with already established telecoms like MTN and Orange in the country. 

The company currently operates in eight African countries, including Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire, Mali, The Gambia, Burkina Faso, and Cameroon.

Ndjodo is a digital financial services specialist with over two decades of experience in both local and international management roles. His career spans the telecoms, oil, and consulting sectors, and he previously served as MTN Cameroon’s Senior Mobile Money Manager.

Wave officially entered Cameroon through a strategic partnership with Commercial Bank Cameroon (CBC).

Authorised by the regional banking regulator, Cobac, the partnership allows CBC clients to perform cash deposits, withdrawals, pay bills, receive international transfers, buy airtime, and move money between mobile wallets and bank accounts.

In his new role, Ndjodo is tasked with sustainably establishing Wave’s presence in Cameroon and positioning the fintech to tap into the country’s fast growing and competitive financial services market.

The transaction is still pending a green light from the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), which has the final say on licensed financial institutions in the country.

For Moniepoint, this deal is a recalibration of strategy after a failed bid to acquire KopoKopo, a Kenyan payments firm, which fell through under unclear circumstances. 

If this acquisition succeeds, the company will gain a regulatory shortcut and immediate access to a functioning microfinance operation in one of Africa’s most dynamic financial landscapes.

Sumac, which started out in 2002 and earned its deposit-taking licence in 2012, currently holds a market share of roughly 4.3% and manages over 43,000 active loan accounts. 

Despite its medium size, Sumac operates in a sector where five players dominate over 80% of the market. It is not a major disruptor, but for Moniepoint, that’s not the point. This is about having a legal structure in place and boots on the ground.

The CAK, in its clearance decision, said, “According to the parties’ submissions, the transaction will not result in negative public interest issues. Specifically, there will be no employment loss and all current employees will be retained under current terms.”

With regulatory bodies now sensitive to foreign acquisitions, Moniepoint has managed to present a deal that ticks all the boxes; no job losses, no monopoly issues, and no disruption to consumer pricing or product access.

The deal also shows how fintechs are avoiding the long route of starting operations from scratch. Instead, they’re buying smaller, regulated entities to fast-track entry into new markets. 

Moniepoint isn’t alone in this approach, Access Bank recently finalised its acquisition of National Bank of Kenya, and KCB Group acquired Riverbank Solutions for KSh 2 billion.

Founded in 2015, Moniepoint is headquartered in the U.S. but operates primarily out of Nigeria. Through its subsidiaries, including Moniepoint Microfinance Bank and TeamApt, the firm has built a strong reputation in digital banking. Now, it wants to replicate that growth in Kenya, starting with microfinance.

Kenya’s mobile money market is massive, valued at over $67 billion. While Sumac itself is not a digital-first bank, Moniepoint sees potential in layering its tech-driven services over Sumac’s existing framework. That’s where the growth could come from.

A spokesperson confirmed, “Regulatory approval has been received from the Competition Authority of Kenya for a potential transaction with Sumac Microfinance Bank. Further updates will be given as appropriate.”

While traditional banks still have a lot of ground to cover on how to solve the problem of financial inclusion, Africa is increasingly relying on digital and mobile services.

At the latest Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) retreat held in Lagos, Godwin Emefiele, the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria emphasized the need to rethink financial sys­tem regulation, supervision and monetary policy imple­mentation in the country.  

He added that while post-COVID growth recovery in Nigeria can be adjudged to be moderate and stable, “we have seen a ma­jor change in the key sectoral drivers of that stable growth phenomenon, including the services sector, modernized agriculture, and manufactur­ing, suggesting that technolo­gy and innovation are playing a major role in output growth and economic development in Nigeria”.

This is important because it reiterates the regulator’s position on the importance of the regulation of the fintech sector, especially emerging frontiers like digital assets and cryptocurrencies.

In 2017, the CBN had earlier warned that cryptocurrencies were not legal tender and that investors were unprotected. In a circular dated February 5, 2021 (the “CBN letter”), the CBN had directed all regulated operators to desist from transacting in and with entities dealing in cryptocurrency.

In October of the same year, The Central Bank then went on to launch a digital currency with officials of the apex bank saying it would allow for financial inclusion and fiscal benefits to boost the economy.

The eNaira was therefore launched as part of the CBN’s cashless policy to improve cross-border trade, expand access to financial services, increase remittances from a large diaspora base and ultimately boost the country’s economy.

With emerging new asset classes such as Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) and Decentralized Finance (DeFi) built on Blockchain technology, it is clear that digital currencies are the next evolution of the financial technology ecosystem.

How can this impact the evolution of fintech in Nigeria? What are the benefits of building a structured and regulated ecosystem that’s open for innovation and collaboration between traditional institutions and new operators?

Regulatory Frameworks Will Ensure Certainty and Consistency In Policy Development

The Nigerian payment system has evolved significantly over the last decade, leapfrogging many of its counterparts in emerging, frontier and developing economies propelled by some key reforms by the different regulatory bodies.

The regulatory developments for the Nigerian fintech market have contributed to the ecosystem’s growth as they have demonstrated a commitment to creating an enabling environment that will support innovation in financial services, without compromising stability within the overall financial system.

Nigeria is also spearheading the adoption of CBDCs in Africa with the launch of the eNaira while the Securities and Exchange Commission also issued new digital asset regulations in May 2022.

In April, The Nigerian Communications Commission held a workshop in collaboration with the Bureau of Public Service Reforms (BPSR) and stakeholders, where it was concluded that Blockchain could be a bedrock of economic innovation and growth through effective implementation of policies and regulations.

Although we can still expect some policy harmonization as to how regulated entities will engage, it is clear that Nigeria is taking advantage of digital economy frameworks and regulatory initiatives that enables emerging technologies in the country. This is important because a regulatory environment clear about its goals will ensure that policymakers are always in alignment.

Driving Inclusion By Encouraging Innovation

The advent of blockchain technology has enabled digital records to be stored in a form that is even more permanent than physical records.

Blockchain technology stores numerous copies of the same records across multiple computer systems in a manner that is completely tamper-proof. This makes records on the blockchain less likely to be destroyed than physical ones.

This has created a situation where digital records are increasingly being more trusted and reliable than physical equivalents.

As the evolution of the financial system continues, the topic of decentralization will go hand in hand with it. It is inevitable because the conversation about how to ensure built-in transparency & accountability in the relationship between companies and citizens isn’t stopping anytime soon. Blockchain technologies are the future and will play a role in strengthening both the public and private sectors.

The application of blockchain technology in the Nigerian financial services industry is gradually gaining traction as industry players are now utilizing it in their service delivery. 

Notably, in 2021, Appzone, a Nigerian fintech software company, announced the launch of Zone, Africa’s first blockchain platform for payment processing that facilitates local and intra-African payments in fiat and digital currencies (we understand that a number of commercial banks in Nigeria are currently utilizing the company’s Zone product in processing the transactions of their customers).

HouseAfrica is another example of the revolutionary way through which blockchain technology is being applied to solve important challenges.

The company aims to develop intelligent and affordable homes while giving its investors maximum security of funds through the blockchain. In 2020, the company signed a partnership agreement with Nigeria Mortgage Refinance Company (NMRC) to deploy a digital/land property title authentication and verification system.

The system will make it possible for individuals and organizations – including financial institutions – to authenticate, validate or confirm the value of any property or land across Nigeria and ultimately improve the amount of mortgage financing transactions in Nigeria.

While blockchain technology is still generally unregulated in the Nigerian financial services industry, the adoption of blockchain technology via crypto-assets is now being regulated in certain respects. Pursuant to the 2020 SEC Statement on Crypto-Assets, crypto-assets are, by default, classified as securities unless proven otherwise. Consequently, the SEC also regulates crypto-token or crypto-coin investments when it is qualified as securities transactions. Well-defined regulatory policies like this will be key to further driving expansion and global adoption of digital assets while encouraging innovation in Africa.

Cross-Continental Economic Impact

Despite the rise of operators and stakeholders pushing for inclusive finance, the digital payment ecosystem across the continent – and indeed within most countries and regions – “is highly fragmented, without an overarching regulatory framework that can tie all the payment solutions together”.

Cross-border payments are often both costly and slow. This is due to a combination of conflicted regulatory coordination in many regions, and private sector actors in the instant payments landscape constantly pursuing short-term profits and market share over longer-term regional growth and inclusion agendas.

Coordination of regulation will mean greater interoperability of instant payments systems and would help promote peer-to-peer (P2P) interactions, small-scale trade, and cross-border e-commerce between African countries.

Conclusion

While no one can predict the future of fintech in Africa, what we do know is it requires a nontraditional regulatory approach—one as invested in the importance of experimentation and entrepreneurship as the practices it oversees.