Business
MD Harps On Youth Empowerment
The Managing Director,
Nuel Simeon Systems Int. Limited, Mr Emmanuel Nwebedu has said that the aim of empowerment was about the training of youths in the society to enable them earn a living.
Nwebedu who stated this at a 2-day free wealth creation and empowerment workshop in Ahoada over the weekend said, the programme was intended to pass across to participants various skills that would empower them.
Organised in conjunction with NUSSI Empowerment Centre, Mr Nwebedu who described the event as a “Foundation Stage” said attendees were exposed into the rudiments of fish farming, poultry, GSM repair and maintenance, marketing and mini-importation among others.
He said at the end of the workshop, participants were expected to be equipped in the various skills imparted to them by the facilitators.
According to him, those who go back to put the training into practice would find them beneficial.
“Those are life changing skills so the bottom line is putting them into practice.
“I believe by the time they do that we have a better society as the ideas will be of immense benefit to the society and themselves”, he said.
Throwing more light, he said the programme was not organised for profit even as he said it was part of the organisation’s social corporate responsibility to the community and society at large.
In terms of funding, the MD said the organisation has business partners both corporate and non corporate that ensure that these kind of workshops were carried out.
“So if we make profit in other operations, the thing is supposed to be put back to society.
On challenges facing the organisation, Nwebedu said the level of awareness among the people was low even as he said a lot has been done in the area of sensitisation.
Also speaking, one of the resource persons, Mr Ernest Emelezi who took participants on web site designing and internet marketing said the programme was worthwhile.
According to him, with over twenty registered attendees having the opportunity in acquiring various skills, subsequent ones would be more rewarding.
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.
