Business
Traders Okay Weekly Sanitation Exercise
Traders at the Rumu-Woji Mile I Market has commended the Rivers State Government for the introduction of weekly sanitation exercise in the markets every Thursday between the hours of 7.00 – 10.00am which has inculcated discipline and sanitary habit on the traders.
The commendation was made by the chairman of Rumuwoji Market Traders Association, Chief (Hon) Y.O.C. Georgewill during an interview with The Tide last Thursday.
He lauded the traders for their cooperation, but urged the sanitary officials not to wait till Thursdays before coming with their vehicles to evacuate refuse, rather they should station at least one vehicle in each of the markets, so that those who have refuse could dispose them on daily basis as this will ensure that the market is always clean.
Chief Georgewill assured the state government that his administration would not allow any trader to sell outside the market as it defaces the city. He however appealed to the committee in charge of allocation of stores at the new mile 1 market to include at least two of his members in the committee in order to identify the genuine traders.
He stressed that if they were not carried along, non traders may be allocated stores while the real traders may be denied the opportunity to own stores. He also appealed to the committee to expedite action on the allocation so that some of the traders could move over there and decongest the old market.
The pioneer vice chairman of Asari Toru Local Government Area (ASALGA) who is fondly called the Mandela of the market because of his dogged fight for the welfare of the traders, said since his assumption of office as chairman of the traders association through a court judgment of July 23, 2010, he had recorded various achievements including peace and unity amongst members.
Also speaking, the vice chairman of the association, Hon. John Amadi (JP) who is also the chairman of the market’s sanitation committee noted that since the inception of their administration the sanitation exercise had recorded a huge success in terms of cleaniness of the market, cooperation of the traders and the sanitary officials.
He said the traders had been made to realise that health is wealth, stressing that before the introduction of the sanitation exercise, the market used to be very untidy and unhygienic, but today every body is happy to buy and sell in a clean environment. He also noted that apart from the weekly sanitation, the traders also participated in the monthly sanitation exercise
The sanitation committee chairman therefore appealed to the state government to provide them with working materials to make their work easier.
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.
