Business
PH Port Users Decry Poor Facilities
Port Harcourt Port operators have decried the poor state of common users facilities in the port.
The common users facilities include the deplorable condition of Industry Road leading to the port, poor power supply, lack of water supply in the port, hazardous environment of the port and other utilities.
Reacting to the issue, transporter at the port, Chief James Tompreye expressed his displeasure over the deplorable condition of Industry Road, the major access road linking Azikiwe Road, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and Reclamation Road.
Tompreye acknowledged the fact that the port is a federal government parastatal, but appealed to the Rivers State Governor Rt. Hon. Chibuike Amaechi to extend his massive road rehabilitation programme to Industry Road to ease haulage of goods, stressing that some of the trailers that ply the road had broken down due to the poor condition of the road.
A dock-worker Lolo Tamuno, who spoke to The Tide, blamed the woes of the port on the indigenous companies and multi-national corporations operating within the area, saying that the companies have failed on their social responsibilities by not contributing to the development of their immediate environment, having contributed to the poor state of the road.
He noted that the road joins Reclamation Road (Witt and Bush), Industry Road to Azikiwe Road (Supabod Junction), pointing out that the companies that operate within the axis which include, NPA, Dangote Cement and Salt, Federal Salt Company, BUA Cement, Floor Mills, Union Dicon Salt, Conoil, Oando, Ibeto cement, Magcobar, Dresser Atlas and others, should contribute their resources and rehabilitate the road than waiting for the government.
Tamuno maintained that the 30 metric tons of trailers carrying cement, salt, flour, bitumen, containers, oil tankers and other consignments that ply the road daily are responsible for the deplorable condition of the road.
He urged the companies to help themselves than seeking for government intervention since the road plays important role in the distribution of their respective products.
Cornerstone of Financial Services
A survey of more than 1 000 global finance leaders undertaken by digital payment network Ripple shows that 72% of respondents believe they need to offer a digital asset solution to remain competitive.
According to Ripple, leaders from the banking, fintech, corporate and asset management sector have made it clear that the “digital asset revolution is happening now”.
“Digital assets are quickly becoming a cornerstone of financial services, underpinned by progressive regulation, growing interest from Tier-1 banks, a steady consumer shift from banks to fintech providers, and booming stablecoin adoption,” Ripple says.
The survey was conducted in early 2026 and the findings released in March.
Stablecoin Boon or Bane?
Ripple has experienced significant success in the stablecoin sector since launching its Ripple USD (RLUSD) stablecoin in 2024.
With a market cap of $1.56 billion, it is considered a major regulated player in the market.
No doubt the platform was pleased to learn through its own survey that financial leaders were most bullish about stablecoins.
Roughly three-quarters of respondents believed they could boost cash-flow efficiency and unlock trapped working capital.
Ripple noted that finance leaders were thinking about stablecoins as more than “just a new way to execute payments”; instead, they viewed them as effective tools for treasury management.
In March 2026, Ripple began testing a new trade finance model built around RLUSD in a bid to increase the speed of cross-border payments.
The pilot initiative, developed alongside supply chain finance company Unloq [https://unloq.com], is running on the XRP Ledger inside a testing framework developed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
The Asian city-state is one of the platform’s biggest growth markets.
The idea behind the project is to see whether stablecoin-based settlement can streamline trade finance, too often hampered by reliance on intermediaries and slow reconciliation.
The only potential drawback is that if the initiative takes off, the Ripple to USD price could be negatively affected.
Ripple has always championed its native XRP token as a bridge asset, the “middleman” in the process of a financial institution turning dollars in the US into pounds in the UK, for example.
Ripple converts dollars into XRP and then back into pounds.
If RLUSD can do exactly the same thing, questions will be asked about XRP’s relevance.
That is a bridge Ripple will have to cross if it gets to that point.
Tokenisation Partners
Another interesting finding from Ripple’s survey is that most banks and asset managers are seeking tokenisation partners to help execute their strategies.
Some 89% of respondents said digital asset storage and custody were top priority. “Token servicing/lifecycle management also ranks highly for banks at 82%, while asset managers place greater emphasis on primary distribution at 80%,” Ripple found.
The survey also revealed that just more than half of fintechs and financial institutions want an infrastructure provider that can offer a “one-stop-shop solution”. This rose to 71% among corporate financial leaders.
Ripple attributes this to institutions and firms wanting uncomplicated, cohesive systems.
Infrastructure Rules
In its final analysis, Ripple says companies across the board are looking for partners and solutions that are “secure, compliant, battle-tested and that enable growth and execution”.
“The message is clear: infrastructure decisions made today will shape competitive positioning tomorrow.”
No surprise that this is precisely where Ripple is placing much of its focus.
