MEST Africa is allowing African start-ups to pitch their way into a $50,000 investment and Ghana’s SWOOVE, a last mile delivery service provider, is among the top five up for the prize. The four other finalists are Sproutly (Nigeria), Kweli (Senegal), Hisa (Kenya) and Desert Green Africa Agri-Investments (South Africa).   The pan-African pitch competition, dubbed MEST Africa Challenge (MAC), opened applications in July this year for pre-seed and seed-stage technology startups in Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, Kenya, and South Africa to bid for the ultimate prize of $50,000.   After going through the online application, regional pitches, and founder interview phases of the competition, the 5 finalists have been selected for the final pitch. Each startup will represent their country at the Demo Day and Final Pitch Competition that will be held in Accra Ghana in December 2022. Speaking on the selection of the top 5 startups, the Director of Portfolio at MEST Africa, Melissa Nsiah said: “It hasn’t been an easy process. Mostly because, this year, we saw so many valid business models and met some incredible founders with huge visions that align very closely with ours. But in the final analysis we were able to zero in on the cream of the crop to select the top 5 companies from Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Senegal and South Africa in alignment with this year’s selection criteria. Our team is eager to work closely with each of the 5 finalists in. preparation towards the final competition day in December.” For the past four years, Mest Africa Challenge has contributed to the growth of Africa’s tech ecosystem by providing seed funding and business training to African software firms.

“It hasn’t been an easy process. Mostly because, this year, we saw so many valid business models and met some incredible founders with huge visions that align very closely with ours. But in the final analysis we were able to zero in on the cream of the crop to select the top 5 companies from Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Senegal and South Africa in alignment with this year’s selection criteria.