Chari, a Moroccan B2B e-commerce and retail startup, has paid $22 million for Axa Credit, the credit arm of Axa Assurance Maroc.
Morocco’s banking, insurance, and antitrust regulators must approve the deal before it can go through.
Ismael Belkhayat and Sophia Alj co-founded Chari, a platform that connects mom and pop stores to FMCGs and other manufacturers and allows them to order products that are delivered in 24 hours.
While now operating in Morocco and Tunisia, the business plans to expand to other Francophone African countries within the next several years.
For this reason, Axa Assurance Maroc is selling its loan business, Axa Credit, in order to focus solely on providing insurance coverage.
In order to complete the acquisition, Belkhayat indicated that the company will use its seed money, venture debt funds, and its negative working capital.
In Belkhayat’s view, Chari’s acquisition of Axa Credit will give it the credit license it needs to expand its loan offerings to more clients. In order to transition from closed-loop loans to open-loop loans, he stated.
As the general manager of Axa Morocco, Meryem Chami remarked: “We are delighted to announce a cross-selling collaboration between Axa Insurance Morocco and Chari.” Through this agreement, Axa Insurance will be in a better position to help the Moroccan economy become more inclusive while also expanding its market share.
Because its values align with those of the France-based bank’s lending arm to help foster financial inclusion in the country, Chari beat out many other bidders for the acquisition of Axa Credit.
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