Salic Consolidates grain operations with full takeover of National Grain Company

Taking full control

Salic is taking full ownership of the National Grain Company and moving it under its subsidiary, the National Grain Supply (Sabil), after acquiring the remaining 50% stake, it said in a statement.

The bigger picture: The transfer ties Salic’s domestic and international investments together to strengthen food security. In July, the companyintegrated Continental Farmers Group with Olam Agri to boost its international sourcing.

REFRESHER- PIF-backed Salic launched Sabil last year, to oversee grain storage and supply operations, deepen collaboration with the private sector, and facilitate growth in the agri-food sector across the Kingdom.

Humain and Napster to launch Arabic-first AI agents

Napster taps Humain to build Arabic-native digital employees for the MENA region: The US-based AI company partnered with PIF’s tech arm to roll out Arabic-first AI agents to public and private sector clients across the region, according to a press release. The partnership will pair Humain IQ, its AI services platform, and Humain Voice with Napster’s video presence, Large Persona Model technology, and multimodal agent infrastructure to integrate Arabic-first language and speech capabilities into embodied AI experiences.

What will actually change: Napster will access three Humain capabilities through secure APIs. Allam, Humain’s proprietary large language model, handles text generation, summarization, and function calling. Humain Voice ASR Real Time transcribes Arabic speech to text, and Humain Voice TTS Real Time converts text to natural speech across multiple Arabic dialects. Napster will roll these out first to its existing clients in Saudi Arabia and the wider Middle East.

Why it matters: The API model lets other tech firms embed Humain’s models in their own platforms, which the two companies pitch as a route to wider international use of the Kingdom’s AI. It also meets demand for AI agents that work in Arabic by default, giving local companies a ready workforce tool.

SAR orders 10 Swiss trains

Saudi Arabia Railways (SAR) exercised its option to buy 10 more intercity passenger trains from Stadler for USD 361 mn (CHF 300 mn), the Swiss manufacturer said in a statement. The order builds on SAR’s 2024 Stadler contract for 10 trains. Each train can carry 320 passengers.

The trains will run on the East-West line connecting Riyadh, Hofuf, Abqaiq, and Dammam. Production will take place mainly in Switzerland, with passenger service expected to begin in 2H 2029.

REMEMBER- SAR lined up financing for those trains last month, bringing in Swiss Export Risk Ins. (SERV) alongside KfW IPEX-Bank, Commerzbank, and UBS Switzerland to fund the purchase.

Riyadh Metro expansion

The Royal Commission for Riyadh City has contracted Siemens and Alstom to manufacture 94 trains for the Riyadh Metro, expanding its fleet to 277 from 183, SPA reports. Deliveries are due to begin in batches in 2028, and the expansion is expected to raise passenger capacity by 57%. The contracts, worth more than USD 5 bn, cover train manufacturing, systems and equipment, maintenance, training, and technical and operational services.

Expanding restaurant financing

Funding Souq has taken an investment from Foodics to expand SME lending to restaurants that use Foodics’ technology platform, according to a press release. The tie-up will use restaurant sales and performance data to assess creditworthiness and tailor financing to each business. Foodics plans to deploy USD 100 mn through its Capital 2.0 restaurant financing product in the first year, and Funding Souq aims to facilitate USD 1 bn in SME financing over the next three years.