Business
RMRDC, NGO Partner On Raw Materials Processing
The Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC) is to collaborate with Partnership Initiatives in the Niger Delta (PIND), an NGO, to inject technology in the processing of palmoil, cassava and aquaculture in the Delta region.
Prof Peter Onwualu, the Director-General of the council, said this yesterday in Abuja, when a PIND delegation led by its Deputy Project Director, Mr Sam Daibo, paid him a courtesy visit.
Onwualu said that as part of its mandate, the council would support any initiative that focused on raw materials processing in Nigeria.
He said the support would be in the form of adequate technology.
According to him, the council has already supported many institutes and organisations with technologies as well as research grants and will not relent if there is a viable appeal for support in terms of grants and technologies.
“The idea is to see areas of partnership, where we can partner with you.
“Essentially we are a research and development organisation, the major part of what we do is to fund research, apply research in the areas of value addition to natural resources mostly in the area of processing.
“What we are trying to do as a government research and development organisation is to see how we can assist Nigerians, individuals or industries to build that capacity to be able to produce intermediate raw materials.”
Onwualu pledged the support of the council in developing the Niger Delta area, saying that the council already had ongoing projects in Abia State.
Responding, Daibo said the foundation was being funded by Chevron with the mandate to establish partnerships with governments, development agencies and research institutes.
He said the aim of the partnership was to help improve the quality of life as well as generate income and create jobs in the Delta region with focus on four key areas.
“We identified four key areas: economic development, capacity building, peace building and advocacy as key areas that we want to focus on.
“The main focus for us is economic growth and development in that region because when you have economic growth, peace is likely to come.
“If I have a livelihood coming from this environment, chances are that I would not be trying to destroy that environment than if I wasn’t benefiting from that environment in the first place.”
Daibo further explained that the foundation would require partnership in the area of technology development and research so as to add value to some of the raw materials they were looking to process within the area.
He said the initiative was considering acquiring technologies for palm oil processing; cassava processing; aquaculture; construction; and textile.
He, however, disclosed that due to lack of capacity, the foundation would first focus on processing palm oil, cassava and aquaculture while calling on the RMRDC to give their support.
“One of the common threats amongst all of them particularly in the area of processing is the issue of technology.”
Daibo expressed gratitude to the management of the council for its willingness to support the initiative.
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.
