Business
Dangote Refinery Begins Operations, 2017
The management of Dangote Petrochemicals Limited, a subsidiary of Dangote Group, has assured that its refinery side at Lekki Free Trade zone in Lagos will meet its 2017 deadline.
The Senior General Manager, Civil and Structural, Dangote Petrochemical Limited, Mr Madhar Kelkar, disclosed this to newsmen Thursday.
“I think we are making progress and I’m happy with what we have done so far,” he said and gave assurance that the 650,000 barrels per day capacity refineries will meet the 2017 deadline.
Remarking that the level of construction is high-tech and of such high standard never done in this part of the world, the manager said, “that is the kind of invention Dangote is doing in this country.
“Building state-of-the-art equipment and technology and top notch expertise to be on this project. At the end of the day, every Nigerian will be very proud that we have the longest single train refinery in the world. That’s the vision of Dangote.
“This is going to be built on this site. Most people build refineries in batches and in phases on different locations in the world. No refinery of this size and the state-of-the0-art technology because most of the refineries you see are 20-30 years old without state of the art technology,” he said.
Kelkar explained further that considering the value chain from crude to the end product will make Nigeria self sufficient in crude refining as well as guarantee huge export.
He noted that there is demand gap in Africa and that the President of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote is set to fill the gap by exporting to neighbouring countries as to be able to generate foreign exchange for the country.
It would be noted that Dangote Group is currently building the largest refinery, Petrochemical and fertilizer complex in Africa and it is sited in Lekki Free Trade Zone, Lagos State.
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.
