Business
Chemical Engineers Set To Dev Solid Minerals
The Nigerian Society of Chemical Engineers (NSCE) says it is working for the development and actualisation of developing solid minerals in the country.
The National President of the association, Engr. Sam Adefila, who stated this last Friday in a press briefing in Port Harcourt to commence the 47th Annual Conference/AGM of NSCE, said lack of research and development in oilfield chemicals has robbed the nation of enormous opportunities to create jobs, generate new knowledge and develop skills.
Adefila noted that research and development fuel the engine that powers a nation’s economy in this knowledge-based globalised economy of the 21st century.
He commended the efforts of the Nigerian Content Development Management Board (NCDMB) to constitute a research and development council for the oil and gas industries, stating that it would integrate research initiative of stakeholders and steer them towards achieving tangible and beneficial outcomes.
According to him, “Design and fabrication of facilities in the country is another area that should be pursued vigorously.
“Design and fabrication of pressure vessels, reactors, heat exchangers and steel pipes of various grades, specifications and sizes will improve the GDP of the nation’’, he said.
Adefila noted that the NSCE was working to realise her dream whereby 100 per cent of her needs in the petroleum industry are produced locally.
He also said the society was making research to ensure that 100 per cent of her needs in the process industries, starting from fine chemicals such as inorganic and organic acids were produced locally to feed the agrichemicals and agrochemicals industries, pharma-chemicals and pharmaceutical industries.
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.