MEST Africa — Training, Seed Funding and Incubation for African Tech Entrepreneurs

MEST Africa (Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology) was founded in 2008 in Accra, Ghana, by Jørn Lyseggen, CEO of Meltwater Group, as a non-profit initiative to create jobs in Africa through technology entrepreneurship.

The programme operates in three phases: an intensive one-year curriculum covering software development, business fundamentals and entrepreneurship; seed investment of $10,000–$100,000 per startup; and ongoing mentoring through MEST incubators. Each year, 60 fully sponsored places are awarded to top African graduates selected from more than 6,000 applicants.

Since inception, the Meltwater Foundation has trained 2,000+ entrepreneurs, invested in over 90 startups, and seen 80+ African software companies launched. The model has been replicated to Lagos (Nigeria), Cape Town (South Africa) and Nairobi (Kenya). The annual MEST Africa Challenge, run in partnership with Absa bank, offers equity investments of up to $50,000 to finalists across the continent.

MEST holds a long-term partnership with the Mastercard Foundation for EdTech fellowships and is recognised by the IFC as a model for digital-skills development in emerging markets. Fast Company named MEST one of its top 10 most innovative companies in Africa in 2015, a recognition that helped attract a growing pipeline of corporate partners.

Read the full analysis: https://meltwater.org/