MEST Africa Challenge 2025 for Tech Startups (Up to $50,000 in equity)

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Applications are open for MEST Africa Challenge 2025. The MEST Africa Challenge (MAC) is a leading Pan-African pitch competition designed for early-stage technology startups ready to scale. The MEST Africa Challenge 2025 is led by MEST Africa and powered by Absa. MAC offers a powerful platform to access equity funding, build strategic networks, and gain global visibility.

Finalists pitch live to an audience of top investors, corporates, and ecosystem leaders, with standout benefits including the chance to win $50,000 in equity, gain entry into the prestigious MEST Portfolio, pilot commercial solutions with Absa business units, and unlock exclusive partner prizes. Join a growing community of innovative African founders and take your startup to the next level.

MEST Africa Challenge Benefits

Win $50,000
- Stand the chance of winning $50,000 in equity
Get Backed by MEST
- A chance to join the MEST Portfolio
Pilot Solution with Absa Business Units
- Commercial pilot pathway with Absa business units for qualified solutions
Partner Prizes
- Win prizes and perks from sponsoring partners

Thematic Areas

Smart Credit & Alt-Lending
• Instant credit decisions for BNPL, cards, micro-loans.
• Agri & startup loan engines using non-traditional data.
• MSME scoring built on telco, utility & POS signals.
• Plug-and-play credit-risk cover via insurtech APIs.
Fraud & Trust Tech
• AI that spots deepfakes and synthetic IDs in real time.
• Biometric ID&V layers that slash digital fraud.
• Always-on monitoring that learns and adapts.
Personalised Money OS
• Hyper-tailored offers driven by first-party analytics.
• Multi-bank personal finance managers that ‘just work’.
• Open-banking checkout APIs & curated API hubs.
Offline-Friendly Rails
• Auto reconciliation & payouts for cash-heavy billers (gov, utilities).
• WhatsApp-first banking for youth & gig workers.
• “Ecosystem banking” playbooks for schools, mines, markets.
Next-Gen Payments & Wallets
• Embedded checkout for e-commerce and gig platforms.
• Proxy-Pay P2P, shared wallets, easy app plugins.
• Social gifting, group pots and susu via bank-linked wallets.
Investment Gateways
• Marketplaces for both traditional and alternative assets.
• Diaspora-powered SME crowdfunding & remittances.
• Digital group saving / investment clubs (SACCO 2.0).
Agri-Tech Engines
• IoT-guided smart farming with sensors and drones.
• Farmer networks for learning, inputs, secondments.
• Robust profiling tools that plug farmers into finance and markets.
Financial Literacy Re-imagined
• Gamified money lessons for women & youth.
• USSD/mobile micro-courses co-built with ed-tech partners.
Omnichannel CX & Super-Apps
• One front door to multiple banks and fintechs.
• Fintech aggregation inside super-apps.
• “One-tap onboard” journeys that feel Uber-easy.
Trade & Cross-Border Boosters
• End-to-end SME trade portals—forex, customs, finance.
• Pan-African payment and logistics bridges for commerce.
Product-Landing Platforms
• White-label or modular marketplaces that let Absa (and partners) launch new products to internal & external users in weeks, not months.
• Built-in compliance, KYC/AML, and analytics dashboards.
• Being able to host Absa’s offers out-of-the-box is a clear edge.
Value-Add Service Layers
• Third-party solutions—insurance add-ons, telco bundles, loyalty perks—delivered through open APIs.
• “Drop-in” integrations that enrich Absa’s existing channels and unlock fresh fee lines.
• Services independent of core banking rails yet tightly linked to customer value.
Integration Orchestrators
• Middleware or iPaaS players that stitch multiple partner services into a single API for Absa apps.
• Pre-built connectors to telcos, utilities, gov platforms, and fintech data sources.
• One-touch onboarding for new partners, slashing time-to-market for features.
Micro & On-Demand Insurtech
• Pay-as-you-use cover.
• Usage-based pricing.
• Instant AI-driven claims.

Eligibility Criteria for MEST Africa Challenge

Must be an early-stage technology startup
Must be a fintech, insuretech or operating in similar value chains
Must offer at least one of the following solutions – Digital payments, Financial inclusion, Insurance innovation and or value chain financing
Must be operating in at least one of the following key markets: Botswana, Uganda, Mauritius, Seychelles, Kenya, Mozambique, Zambia and Ghana.
Monthly Recurring Revenue: A minimum of $5k
Funding raised: Cumulative $1M or less
Years in existence: 3 years and below
Traction: At least 6 months of recurring revenue
Founding team: At least 2 founding team members
Registered in Delaware (This is preferred)