In this episode of The Trajectory Africa, Ismael Belkhayat, CEO and founder of Chari, a b2b e-commerce and fintech platform for traditional retailers in French-speaking Africa, explains how fintech and digital commerce came together inside his company. He shares Chari's journey supporting traditional shopkeepers in Morocco, the financial infrastructure they've built, and how they're creating a sustainable business model by turning mom-and-pop shops into neighborhood financial service providers. He also offers his perspective on how to pursue growth through strategic acquisitions and “going deep” in a single market while leveraging local talent to expand.

[00:00 ] - Introduction
[05:40 ] - The business case behind serving shopkeepers
[07:57 ] - Pivoting to neobanking and Chari’s business model 
[11:20 ] - Building a fintech ecosystem for shopkeepers
[35:14 ] - Super app strategy: e-commerce and fintech
[31:39 ] - Strategic partnership with Orange Telecom
[40:43 ] - Acquisition synergies, and scaling logic
[43:43 ] - First principle of building in digital commerce

Recommendations:

• Chari: Exploring Fintech in Morocco. A Harvard Business School Case on Chari. 
• Chasing Outliers: Why Context Matters for Early Stage Investing in Africa. A report I co-authored on VC investing in Africa. 

  
  

Connect on social media:

• Ismael Belkhayat on LinkedIn and @ismaelbelkhayat on X 
• The Trajectory Africa on LinkedIn and @trajectoryafrica.bsky.social on Bluesky
• Tayo Akinyemi on LinkedIn, X, and @TayoAkinyemi.bsky.social on Bluesky