Khazna Secures Consumer Finance License with Pharos Acquisition to Expand in Egypt

Khazna has completed the acquisition of Pharos Consumer Finance, the consumer finance arm of Pharos Holding, in a move that gives the Egyptian fintech a clearer route into regulated consumer lending in Egypt. The deal, which was completed earlier this year, allows Khazna to secure a consumer finance licence from the Financial Regulatory Authority and widen its financing offer to individuals in the local market.

It feels like one of those steps that may look technical on paper, but in practice can shift quite a lot. For startups across MENA, Arageek readers know this sort of licence is not just a box-ticking exercise. It can be the difference between a promising model and one that can actually scale without too much faff.

Khazna, which focuses on digital financial services for people underserved by traditional banks in the Middle East, said it has already started making credit lines available from financial institutions. That should support its plans to roll out more formal financing products aimed at Egyptians who still struggle to access banking services through the usual channels. And believe it or not, that gap remains very real, especially for salaried workers and pensioners who can seem visible on paper but still be overlooked by conventional lenders.

The consumer finance licence is a notable part of Khazna’s long-term strategy. With it, the company gets a regulatory framework to expand lending services in Egypt and reach a wider pool of customers who find bank finance hard to obtain. The broader aim is to build products that match people’s actual needs and repayment capacity, rather than throw generic credit at the market and hope for the best.

Khazna’s model leans heavily on partnerships between businesses and end users, what is often called a B2B2C approach. In simple terms, the company works through employers and institutions, then serves individual customers through those relationships. Its financing products are linked to users’ salaries and pensions, which the company says helps it reach customers more effectively, manage credit risk and build trust over time. On the flip side, this also means execution matters a lot — if the partnerships are spot on, distribution can move fast; if they are not, scaling becomes a bit of a slog.

This structure also gives Khazna a useful data layer. Salary and pension information can support credit assessment and financing decisions, which is especially relevant in a market where many consumers have limited formal borrowing histories. I reckon that is one of the more interesting details here, because in fintech, access is only half the story; risk management is where many companies come unstuck, well... I mean, particularly when they move from payments into lending.

Legal advice on the transaction was provided to Khazna by Zaki Hashem Attorneys at Law, which supported the company through the different stages of the acquisition. Names matter in deals like this, and Zaki Hashem’s involvement suggests the transaction was handled with the kind of formal legal structure you would expect in a regulated financial market.

For Khazna, the acquisition strengthens its position in Egypt’s consumer finance space by combining its partnership-led model with the required regulatory licence and fresh institutional credit lines. That combination could help it expand its customer base in the next phase. From where I sit, after years of watching MENA startups chase growth at all costs, this feels like a more grounded play — less flashy, more usefull, and potentially more durable.

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