The Riyadh-based Digital Cooperation Organization approved 8 countries as membership candidates — Albania, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria and Zambia — with Tajikistan approved as an associate member, taking the organization from 16 members to 24 on accession and covering roughly 980 million people, about 12% of the global population. The DCO launched in 2020 with 5 founding countries and is working to a 2025–2028 agenda.
The expansion from 5 founding countries in 2020 to 24, now representing approximately 12% of the global population, demonstrates that standards are being set collectively. The rules on data and cross-border digital trade are determined by those who participate.
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HungerStation goes to review
Saudi Arabia's General Authority for Competition opened a public consultation on Uber Technologies' acquisition of Delivery Hero, which includes HungerStation, wholly owned by Delivery Hero in Saudi Arabia. Uber's July 2026 offer of €41.50 per share values Delivery Hero at about €13 billion, and the deal is expected to close in H2 2027 subject to approvals. Feedback is open until Oct. 20.
The deal is set to close in the second half of 2027, once it gets all the necessary approvals. During the consultation period, a rival Saudi delivery app could make its case for limits on the combined group's market share.
Two hundred forty-four million, committed
Derayah committed SAR 244 million to a fund investing in artificial intelligence, enterprise software and advanced technologies, paying 40%, SAR 97.5 million, on 28 August, with the remaining 60% due over 24 months. The fund targets SAR 4.5 billion and is capped at SAR 5.62 billion, with roughly 15 portfolio companies expected.
SAR 244 million has been committed to a SAR 4.5 billion fund that will support approximately 15 companies. The selection of the Saudi AI cohort is currently underway.
SR 3.6bn, 2,505 apartments, one fund
Alramz Real Estate established a Shariah-compliant fund of more than SR3.6bn, managed by SNB Capital, with Alramz holding 100% of the units. The vehicle covers a 90,000+ sqm site in Al Raed district, Riyadh. 2,505 residential apartments plus commercial space, on a development contract worth roughly SR1.2bn, with 10% development fees and 2.5% marketing fees over an approximately five-year term.
2,505 units delivered into a market where new residential mortgage lending has roughly halved year on year. The build is a five-year bet that the financing side normalises well before handover, and that is the assumption to interrogate, not the design.
