Business
Delta Communities To Certify Projects Before Payment a
Delta State Commissioner for Works, Chief Funkekeme Solomon, reaffirmed recently in Asaba that the ministry would not pay contractors on any project unless its completion was certified by the community where it was sited.
He stressed that traditional rulers and opinion leaders must certify that the contractors complied with the contract’s guidelines in executing the projects.
Solomon who spoke in an interview with the newsmen said that the policy was introduced to serve as check on contractors.
He said: “we have involved the communities because the projects are meant for them and by the policy they have become part of government’s project monitoring teams.
“So far, the synergy has been effective and we are sensitising communities in the state to take the issue seriously.”
He announced that the government had approved the construction of an internal road in Illah, Oshimili North Local Government Area, which led to a major market located at the bank of River Niger.
Solomon said that contract for the job would be awarded before the middle of April, adding that work on the project would be accelerated to ensure quick completion.
The commissioner explained that the approval for the construction of the Illah township road was in line with the state government’s urban-rural integration programme aimed at making the rural communities accessible.
“We are aware of the enormous resources, including farm produce in the villages which cannot be accessed due to absence of roads or poor condition of the roads.
“And for this situation, we have resolved to constructing roads in such communities so that food items and other goods can be taken to the markets.”
He said that government would continue to maintain and rehabilitate Federal Government roads in the state.
“Currently, we have spent more than N28million in rehabilitating and maintaining federal roads and that is between year 2000 and now.”
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.
