Business
Yam Traders Return To Iriebe Market
Business activities at the Yam Zone Market, Iriebe in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State have resumed after the clash between members of the proscribed Indeginous People of Biafra (IPOB) and the Hausa Community in the area.
The market, which is located at the boundary between Obio/Akpor and Oyigbo Local Government Area, was the centre of the clash where many of the traders lost goods and property worth thousands of naira.
Some traders, however lamented that trading activities were at their lowest ebb inspite of the heavy presence of security personnel in the market and attributed the development to the exit of Hausa traders who were the target of the clash.
Secretary to the Yam Zone Market Traders Union, Mr. Godffery Mike said, “there are no buyers even though everywhere is calm.
“People are still afraid to come out to the market inspite of the deployment of security agents to the market. Our members who were trapped at Aba and other places are all returning gradually now and we expect things to normalise in the days ahead”.
Mike, thanked Governor Nyesom Wike for the steps he took towards stalling the situation and sued for peaceful co-existence in the area.
In a related development, traders at the oil mill market, in Rumukurushi, Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, have cried out against the multiple levies imposed on them by the owners of the market.
A dealer in second hand clothes, popularly called “Okrika wake-up”, Mr Chidi Madumere, lamented that they are levied heavily on a daily basis and explained that the situation was making savings impossible for them while buyers also complain about the intermittent increase in prices of commodities and appealed for a drastic step to be taken to stop the heavy levies imposed on the traders, since the buyers are the one who bear the brunt of the levies.
Tonye Nria-Dappa
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.
