Moroccan B2B e-commerce and retail startup Chari.ma announced it has made an offer of $22mln to acquire consumer credit company Axa Crédit.

“We are thrilled to announce a cross-selling partnership between Axa Insurance Morocco and Chari. This partnership will allow Axa Insurance to keep growing on the Moroccan market and play a central role in financial inclusion,” commented Meryem Chami, CEO of Axa Assurance Maroc.

The offer comes less than a month after Chari.ma raised an undisclosed amount of funds. The company co-founded in 2020 by Ismaël and Sophia Belkhayat, had indicated the new capital valued it at $100 million. Chari.ma also announced it would, following this operation, test the Buy Now and Pay Later service with its customers, before considering an extension into the customer loan sector.

The new partnership will allow Axa to refocus on insurance, its core business. Chari.ma, for its part, could now offer credit to its customer base of consumer goods retailers. The company will use the Karny.ma platform, which it acquired in August 2021, to assess the creditworthiness of its unbanked customers with no credit history. These retailers will in turn be able to grant consumer products on credit to their customers.

Chamberline Moko