Business
Farmers Carpet NIMET For Inaccurate Forecasts
Some farmers in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) on Tuesday, criticised the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) for its inaccurate weather forecasts and delay in releasing the 2012 Seasonal Rainfall Prediction (SRP).
Speaking with our correspondent, an Agricultural Scientist, Chief Moses Gilbert, blamed NIMET for not releasing its SRP in January when farmers would be able to follow up the prediction easily.
He complained that the forecast released by the agency was confusing, adding that it was creating more problems for farmers, “because we cannot see what they predicted happening.
“NIMET predicted in March that there would be normal rainfall across the country, meaning there would not be flooding but now in Lagos, Ibadan and some other parts of the country, we have experienced flooding.
“As you can see now, Abuja has not witnessed a proper rain fall since the beginning of the year; this could not allow us to go into farming because nobody knows what would happen next,’’ he said.
Mr Ahame Audu, a farmer at Gwagwalada area of the FCT, said since the beginning of the year, none of the predictions of the agency on weather had come to reality.
He also accused NIMET of not communicating with farmers in the rural areas by interpreting the seasonal rainfall predictions that was released by the agency once a year in local languages that the farmers could understand.
Mrs Patricia Emabino, another farmer at Nyanya in the FCT, said there was nothing to show that the government agency cared about farmers like other stakeholders who used the weather and climate information.
“ Most farmers across the country become victims of flooding and low harvest of farm crops because of wrong information or as a result of not having access to the weather information provided by the agency.
“Sometimes, even when the forecast is released, you will realise that it never comes true,’’ Emabino said.
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.
