Saudi: Sakan closes Jood Eskan charitable IPO; nets over $400mln

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Saudi Arabia - National Developmental Housing Corporation (Sakan) has announced that it has successfully closed its Jood Eskan Charity subscription after achieving its target of more than SR1.5 billion ($400 million).

The Jood Eskan platform is one of the initiatives of Sakan, a non-profit arm of the Ministry of Municipal, Rural Affairs and Housing, which aims to engage society members in community development programmes and achieve social solidarity, based on a mechanism that ensures the delivery of charitable donations to those who need them.

Through this charity IPO-style campaign, Sakan aims to provide residences to 3,500 needy Saudi families.

The novel campaign even won global recognition through its entry into the Guinness World Records for realising the largest target in the world for an electronic charitable campaign in one month.

TradeArabia had earlier reported that Sakan had secured over SR1 billion ($266 million) through the Jood Eskan Charitable Campaign within 13 days of its launch.

The campaign was inaugurated by Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and HRH the Crown Prince on the first day of Ramadan with a donation of SR150 million, which then led to a continuous flow of donations from across the country with leading business houses taking the lead.

Announcing the closure of Jood Eskan Charity subscription, Minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs and Housing and Sakan Chairman Majed bin Abdullah Al Hogail said: "As many as 5,250 families including 26,250 individuals throughout the country have secured ready homes, an unprecedented result in terms of charity fundraising recognized by Guinness world records."

The campaign has seen the contribution of a number of leading partners, including General Endowment Authority, Al Rajhi Bank, stc Group, MBC, Al Arabia News Channel, the National Group for Housing, Ajlan and Brothers, Sumou RealEstate , Khuzam Real Estate, and Al Arabia Outdoor Advertising.