Business
Aviation Fuel: Chidoka Meets Major Marketers
Commissioner for Water Resources and Rural Development, Hon Patricia Simon-Hart, (2nd right) listening to the Director General, Rivers State Water Services Regulatory Commissioner (RSWSRC), Mr Chris Obasiolu (left) representative of the Governor of the State and Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning, Hon Gogo Charles (right) at official flag off of the RSWSRC in Port Harcourt recently. Photo: Chris Monyanaga
The Minister of Aviation, Mr Osita Chidoka, met with the officials of the Major Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) yesterday in Abuja in an effort to ensure the availability of aviation fuel.
Chidoka said the objective of the meeting was to discuss issues concerning the aviation industry, review them and agree on possible ways to keep the industry alive.
While observing that aviation fuel was the blood of the industry, the minister stressed the need to bring stakeholders together to harmonise positions on how to ensure continuous supply of the product.
According to the minister, to keep the blood flowing, all parts of the value chain must be brought together harmoniously.
“As you all know, fuel is a major component of the aviation industry and in terms of cost, it is one of the big projects in the industry and how, when and where it is delivered is of great importance to the industry.
“So, I am happy we are here; we will be willing to look at issues together, review them and also come to an agreement on the best possible means of making sure that the industry is kept alive because the blood of the industry is actually the fuel.”
Chidoka expressed hope that the meeting would be the beginning of interactions between the ministry and MOMAN towards ensuring harmonious relationship in the operation of the aviation sector.
The Tide source reports that after the briefing, the Minister commenced the closed-door meeting with the MOMAN delegation led by its Executive Secretary, Mr Obafemi Olawore.
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.
