Business 2 Business platform, Chari has acquired Axa Credit, the Moroccan credit branch of the global French Bank, Axa Assurance Maroc. The acquisition was made for $22m.
The fintech startup is one that seeks to automate the supply chain of the fragmented fast moving consumer goods sector of francophone parts of Africa.
Just last month, the startup secured a bridge round of financing that raised it to a $100 million valuation.
Chari was founded by Sophia Alj and Ismael Belkhayat in 2020 and is today backed by Silicon Valley’s high-profile Y Combinator.
Speaking on the acquisition, Sophia Alj, co-founder of Chari says, “They decided to give the deal to Chari because I think they believe we are the ones able to do financial inclusion.”
Ismael Belkhayat, CEO & co-founder of Chari, also says, “We realized that up to 70% of Moroccans are either unbanked or unable to prove they have monthly revenues, and neighboring small mom and pop shops are well placed to be financial access points.
The shop owners’ know the consumption habits of their clients, where they live, when and how they get paid, and are therefore able to perform the credit risk assessment that a normal bank is unable to do.”
Last October, Chari acquired Axa’s credit app book, Karny.ma. With this digital ledger, SMEs can record and track business transactions securely.
On the acquisition of the ledger book, Belkhayat stated: “The acquisition of the credit book app Karny.ma allowed us to get real figures on the volumes of loans given by the shop owners to their clients.
We want to use these grocery stores as our credit branches and the shop owners as our branch agents to perform the KYC, define the credit limit, and secure the cash collection allowing the whole Moroccan population to benefit from financial services.”
Chari has a mobile app that allows retailers in Morocco and Tunisia to order products from FMCGs producers and have them delivered in 24 hours.
