slye2307/Zimbabwe-Loan-Defaults-Predictions

An AI-powered web app built for the IndabaX Zimbabwe 2026 Hackathon. Using a CatBoost model trained on real Zimbabwean bank data, it predicts loan default risk to help financial institutions make smarter, faster lending decisions. # Zimbabwe Loan Default Prediction App This is a Streamlit app for estimating loan default risk for Zimbabwe banking-sector loan applications. It uses a saved CatBoost model and the same feature engineering logic used during training. The app is meant to support credit-risk screening. It should not replace a final human credit decision. ## Live Demo If you want to access the demo, press this link: zimbabwe-loan-defaults-pred… ## What The App Includes - Single-loan risk prediction with plain-English risk factors and review steps. - Batch CSV scoring for files with the same columns as `Test.csv`. - Portfolio dashboard charts from `Train.csv`. - Optional AI assistant, Brighty, for explaining scores and review next steps. ## Project Structure ```text zindi/ |-- app.py # Main Streamlit application |-- model.pkl # Saved CatBoost model |-- features.pkl # Saved feature list used by the model |-- Train.csv # Training data used for dashboard charts |-- requirements.txt # Python packages needed to run the app |-- runtime.txt # Python version for Streamlit Cloud |-- .streamlit/ | `-- config.toml # App theme settings |-- README.md # Setup and usage guide `-- .gitignore # Files GitHub should ignore ``` ## How To Run Locally Open a terminal in this project folder, then run: ```powershell python -m venv .venv .\.venv\Scripts\Activate.ps1 python -m pip install --upgrade pip python -m pip install -r requirements.txt python -m streamlit run app.py ``` After Streamlit starts, open the local URL it prints, usually: ```text localhost ``` ## Required Files The app needs these files in the same folder as `app.py`: - `model.pkl` - `features.pkl` - `Train.csv` Without them, the model or dashboard will not load. Before making the repository public, confirm that the competition rules allow you to publi …