Chari, B2B e-commerce and FinTech startup that digitizes the FMCG sector in French speaking Africa, to acquire Axa Credit, the Moroccan credit branch of the global French Bank Insurance group AXA, for $22m.

Founded by Sophia Alj and Ismael Belkhayat in January 2020, Chari recently graduated from the Y Combinator Summer 21 batch. By using Chari’s app, thousands of traditional convenience stores in Morocco and Tunisia order FMCG products and get them delivered in less than 24 hours. Chari had previously acquired Karny.ma credit book app.

“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,” Ismael Belkhayat, CEO & co-founder of Chari, said.

The proposed acquisition is still subject to approval from the moroccan banking, insurance, and antitrust authorities. The acquisition of AXA Credit will offer Chari the credit license needed to start offering loans to its FMCG B2B clients who can then lend money to their consumer clients.

“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 habit 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,” Belkhayat added.