Business
Inconclusive Polls Take Toll On Businesses In PH
2nd L-R: Governor Mukhtar Yero of Kaduna State, Vice President Namadi Sambo, Managing Director, Salini Construction Company, Dr Piero Capitanio and Minister of Water Resources, Mrs Sarah Ochekpe, during the inauguration of Gurara Irrigation Project at Kachia Local Government Area of Kaduna State, recently.
Following the inconclusive Presidential and National Assembly elections in parts of Rivers State, eligible voters who travelled to their local government areas are yet to return.
Investigations carried out by our correspondent at some of the motor parks across the state revealed that food vendors and hawkers are the most hit by the development.
At the Abali Model Park near Isaac Boro Park, a food vendor, Mrs Uduak Sunday who spoke to our correspondent said the reduced influx of passengers to and from the park affected her business negatively between Saturday and Sunday.
Another howker who gave his name as Big Brother said “In fact, I started feeling lack of business two days to the election day.”
According to him, people travelled out beginning from Thursday last week.
Big Brother explained that the development made him to return the items he used to hawk to his supplier as he was not sure to sell them off before the election.
At the Mile III Motor Park, the story was the same as the number of food vendors and hawkers was minimal according to The Tide’s findings.
One of the food vendors who spoke to our correspondent said the development forced her to reduce the food items she prepares.
According to the food vendors, she was acting on the experience she had on election day.
She explained further that on the election day proper, she cooked more than she could sell off as customers were not forthcoming.
Also narrating their ordeal, some transporters at some of the motor parks in Rumuokoro, Mile I and Abali park expressed the hope that the presidential elections end successfully Sunday to enable them resume fully.
One of them who has his name as Boniface Njoku at the Mile III Park said for those of them whose only means of livelihood was transportation business, the development has taken a toll on their finances even as he said most drivers do not own their vehicles as they make return daily.
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.
